American Male Grand Slam Dry Spell Isn't Fritz's Burden to Bear

I possess a few thoughts about that remarks made by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer after the Serbian champion's win over the American player during the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is from the US – and sports frequently lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of letdown would have been appropriate. Instead, he invoked the ongoing absence of American men at the majors: none of them had lifted a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

We all enjoy a storyline, myself included. But really. Even if the American had beaten the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was looming in the next round, whom Fritz has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard went on to defeat a tired Serbian in the next round). He stated in post-match interviews after the loss that he in fact preferred his draw, because it presented the chance to defeat the top three competitors in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is more than justified to aim for the achievement; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match who else in their right mind had the lack of US winners on the brain?

The American, 28, is ranked number four in the global rankings starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six encounters over No 3 the German with increasing ease. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that at present, that’s as high as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite serve and concussive power on both forehand and backhand are more than enough to defeat most rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of generational talents, however, he is often overmatched. The past few years has witnessed the interesting emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nevertheless move around with the surprising speed and fluidity of much shorter players. He is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the other player was controlling, and hitting a soft shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a pretty harsh limitation on his potential.

The American has made a several dramatic, improbable advancements throughout his career. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was approaching the top 10. The previous season, he unexpectedly exploded up to No 4 – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a aging Serbian, is the toughest 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 worth mentioning the ongoing drought of US male players winning grand slams when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

The American's performance in that exact quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian triumphed in four sets, a victory that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had saved a few match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz earning plenty of opportunities to break. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after break point, extending the run to the brink of frustration. When Fritz eventually did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a terrible game to lose his own serve once more; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and compelled him to expend far too much effort to win it. Down match points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve floated to heaven. He prolonged the match twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a choke, in my opinion, only a result of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was quite ironclad evidence that the American is not good enough to beat any form of the Serbian, who lost to the Spaniard in the following match and never particularly seem like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, but has developed sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is the individuals who were expecting the American to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in media sessions, more so than virtually everyone on the men's tour except for the Russian star, willing to not just express how he feels or the tactic he felt determined a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for the United States failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that load.)

“I would likely dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” the American informed an interviewer in June of claiming a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not a failure if he does not achieve that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is actually extremely unlikely for everybody else. {