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

I have some thoughts about that comments delivered by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer after the Serbian champion's victory over the American player in the US Open quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents American, Fowler is American – and sports often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment was understandable. Rather, Fowler brought up the continued drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone love a storyline, myself included. But really. Suppose the American had beaten the legend for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, who he has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven major titles (plus Alcaraz went on to defeat a tired Serbian in the subsequent match). He said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually liked his draw, because it presented the chance to beat the top three competitors in the world in succession. He is more than justified to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final who else sensibly had the lack of US winners in mind?

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the world starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his previous six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that is as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a chasm of ranking points away. His elite delivery and concussive power on both forehand and backhand are sufficiently enough to defeat most opponents on the professional circuit. Against the handful of generational talents, though, he is often overmatched. The past few seasons has seen the interesting emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless cover the court with the surprising speed and fluidity of smaller players. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a drop shot against him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a pretty harsh restriction on his upside.

Fritz has made a number of dramatic, improbable advancements over the years. Early on of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the lower end of the top 30. 24 months later, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly exploded up to fourth place – and held the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating legendary figures like Alcaraz, Sinner, and even a declining Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing drought of American men winning major titles when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the task insufficient.

The American's performance in that very quarter-final should have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic won in four sets, a win that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had survived a couple match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz earning numerous chances to break. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the streak to the point of frustration. When he finally did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately played a horrendous game to lose his own serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and forced him to use far too much energy to win it. Facing set points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve floated to heaven. He extended the contest two times on his second serve, but finally committed two errors. It was not a choke, in my opinion, only a consequence of having to hit too many second serves.

The match was quite compelling proof that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of Djokovic, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the next round and never especially seem like he believed he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – the Serbian is the best player ever, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired enough experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is those who were expecting Fritz to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that indicated he would.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, reflective presence in press conferences, more so than almost everyone on the men's tour aside from the Russian star, willing to not just express how he feels or the tactic he felt decided a contest, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for America failing to produce a male major champion since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can divide that burden.)

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” the American informed a journalist in June of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable empire is in fact highly unlikely for all other players. {