US Male Major Title Drought Isn't Fritz's Responsibility to Bear

I have some opinions about the remarks made by ESPN broadcaster a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's win over the American player during the New York major quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is American, the commentator is American – and sports frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown was understandable. Instead, he brought up the ongoing drought of US male players at the majors: none of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

Everyone love a narrative, me too. But come on. Suppose the American defeated the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the next round, who he has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, versus him the American had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz went on to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the next round). Fritz said in press after the loss that he in fact liked his draw, because it presented the chance to defeat the three best players in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is more than justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an competitor is meant to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian last eight match who else in their right mind had the lack of American champions in mind?

Fritz, twenty-eight, is ranked number four in the global rankings starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his previous six encounters over third-ranked the German with growing comfort. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that at present, that is as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a chasm of performance metrics away. His elite delivery and powerful power on each forehand and backhand are more than adequate to defeat the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is often helpless. The past few seasons has seen the curious emergence of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless cover the court with the surprising speed and fluidity of much shorter players. Fritz is six-foot-five and looks it. His footwork is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was dictating, and playing a drop shot against him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a quite severe limitation on his upside.

Fritz has made a number of significant, improbable improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the bottom of the top 30. Two years after, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he suddenly exploded up to fourth place – and held the position. But the next leap, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and even a declining Djokovic, is the highest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing drought of American men winning major titles when Fritz had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

Fritz’s play in that exact last eight match ought to have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic won in four sets, a victory that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had saved a few championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz creating plenty of chances to break. But the champion saved service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the run to the brink of agony. When he eventually did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a horrendous service game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the real battle and forced him to use excessive energy to prevail. Facing set points in the final game, his primary delivery floated to heaven. He extended the contest two times on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It was not a choke, in my opinion, only a consequence of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly ironclad evidence that Fritz is not good enough to beat any form of Djokovic, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and did not especially appeared like he thought he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired sufficient experience and tactical know-how to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is those who were expecting Fritz to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he could.

The American is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a patient, reflective presence in press conferences, more so than almost everyone on the ATP except for the Russian star, willing to not just say his emotions or the strategy he believed decided a contest, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for America failing to produce a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can share that load.)

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I don’t accomplish it,” the American told a journalist in June of claiming a major. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is actually extremely improbable for all other players. {