America’s men’s grand slam drought is not Taylor Fritz’s burden to carry
Back at the ATP finals one year after reaching the last hurdle, Fritz remains a top-five talent.It’s a reminder that a certain major-title drought is not his burden to bearI would like to have some words with ESPN broadcaster Chris Fowler about what he said after Novak Djokovic beat Taylor Fritz, for the 11th straight time, in the US Open quarter-finals.Look – Fritz is American, Fowler is American – and sports often lend themselves to nationalism.A little bit of disappointment was appropriate.Instead, Fowler invoked the continued drought of American men at the majors: none of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.
We all love a narrative, myself included,But come on,Even if Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the next round, who Fritz has yet to beat in an official match,And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner in the final, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets,Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven major titles (and Alcaraz went on to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the next round).
Fritz said in press after the loss that he actually liked his draw, because it presented the opportunity to beat the three best players in the world in succession.Fritz is more than within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves.But going into that Djokovic quarter-final who else in their right mind had the drought of American champions on the brain?Fritz, 28, is ranked fourth in the world entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease.Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the future.But it’s clear that right now, that’s as far as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of ranking points away.
Fritz’s elite serve and concussive power on both forehand and backhand are more than enough to dispose of most opponents on the ATP tour,Against the select few generational talents, though, Fritz is often helpless,The last several years has seen the curious rise of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless cover the court with the alarming speed and fluidity of much shorter men,Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it,His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs.
So he’ll rarely steal a point that the other player was dictating, and hitting a drop shot against him is usually a safe bet.That serves as a pretty harsh limitation on his potential.Fritz has made a number of dramatic, improbable improvements over the years.At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the top 30.Two years later, he was sniffing the top 10.
Last year, he suddenly exploded up to No 4 – and held the spot.But the next leap, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and even a declining Djokovic, is the highest of all.What was Fowler thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the ongoing drought of American men lifting major titles when Fritz had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply too much and the respect for the magnitude of the task too little.Fritz’s play in that very quarter-final should have been enough of an indication.Djokovic won in four sets, a victory that only felt tenuous for moments towards the very end, when Fritz had survived a couple match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5.
The pair looked evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz earning plenty of opportunities to break.But Djokovic saved break point after break point, prolonging the streak to the point of agony.When Fritz finally did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a horrendous game to drop serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and forced him to use far too much energy to win it.Down match points in the final game, Fritz’s first serve floated to heaven.He prolonged the match twice on his second serve, but finally double-faulted.
It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, just a result of having to hit too many second serves.The match was fairly ironclad evidence that Fritz is not good enough to beat any version of Djokovic, who lost to Alcaraz in the next round and never particularly appeared like he thought he could win.This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the height of his physical powers anymore, but has developed enough 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 putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to do anything that suggested he would.Fritz is an asset to the tour nonetheless.
He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in press conferences, more so than virtually anyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only say how he feels or the tactic he felt decided a match, but explain it.That he should bear the brunt of the blame for America failing to spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick feels unfair.(Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that burden.)Jimmy Connors GroupCarlos Alcaraz (Sp)Taylor Fritz (US)Alex de Minaur (Aus)Lorenzo Musetti (It)Bjorn Borg GroupJannik Sinner (It)Alexander Zverev (Ger)Ben Shelton (US)Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)“I’d probably think about it forever if I don’t do it,” Fritz told Donald McRae in June of winning a major.I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying empire is in fact extremely improbable for everybody else.
Fritz has never been in a position where he should have won a major and didn’t – he lost the lone major final he’s made so far in straight sets to Sinner, and his sem-ifinal berth at Wimbledon this year, his best run besides, ended against Alcaraz in a very tight four sets (with Sinner waiting in the final again).There’s no ghastly choke like Guillermo Coria’s implosion against Gaston Gaudio in the 2004 Roland-Garros final on Fritz’s conscience, no major tournament where he looked like the best player only to drastically underperform.Fritz’s extremely high standards for himself probably account for most of that feeling he expressed to McRae, but I suspect some of it also comes from the stifling, inescapable pressure to be America’s next golden tennis boy.Winning a major is a rare thing, and even rarer in this age of hyper-talented players.Any pressure for Fritz to do so should come entirely from within.
$1.50 mangoes: Australia’s best-value fruit and veg for November
Kensington Pride, Calypso and Honey Gold mangoes are the juiciest of the crop right now – but avoid potatoes until prices come back downGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailHot weather in the Northern Territory has been favourable for summer’s golden child.“Everyone should be eating mangoes right now,” says Josh Flamminio, co-owner of Galluzzo Fruiterers in Sydney.The mango abundance will continue throughout the month and will only get better as supply from Queensland increases. Flamminio is selling larger premium mangoes for $2.50 to $3 each, and smaller-sized ones for $1
How to turn the dregs of a tin of golden syrup into a delectable toffee sauce – recipe | Waste not
Lyle’s golden syrup comes in the most ornate and nostalgic of tins, but the syrup inside often proves almost impossible to extract entirely. Turn what might otherwise be wasted into this luxurious toffee sauce to savour on Bonfire Night, especially when drizzled generously over cinnamon baked apples with scoops of vanilla ice-cream.Apples transform beautifully when baked, turning this hyper-seasonal fruit into a super-simple yet decadent dessert. I prefer cox or braeburn varieties (ie, something not too large), so you can serve one apple per person.Gordon Ramsay’s recipes are my go-to for traditional techniques that deliver reliable results
Mirepoix kimchi and vegetarian umami chilli: Kenji Morimoto’s recipes for cooking with homemade ferments
Cooking with ferments brings a tremendous amount of flavour to whatever you’re making, and it’s a great way to showcase how an ingredient evolves through the application of heat. The idea of combining a Korean preservation method with a French technique is exactly what I love about creativity in the kitchen. This mirepoix kimchi is not just a fun ferment to dot on savoury oatmeal or eat alongside cheese, but it also acts as the backbone for a plant-based, umami-filled chilli.This versatile, umami-rich paste is a twist on the classic mirepoix and can be used to add a hit of flavour to everything from soups to marinades, or even enjoyed as is.Prep 10 min Ferment 2 weeks+ Makes 500ml jar150g carrot 150g white onion 150g celery 13½g salt (or 3% of the total weight of the first three ingredients)½ tbsp red miso, or fish sauce½ tbsp sugar 15g gochugaru chilli flakesRoughly chop the vegetables (there is no need to peel the carrots if they have been rinsed), then put them in a food processor
The many uses of leftover chutney, from breakfast to soups and glazes | Kitchen aide
Every Christmas I’m given chutney, and I still have four barely used jars. What to do with them before the next lot arrive? Christine, OxfordThis sounds like a job for Claire Dinhut, author of The Condiment Book, who also goes by the moniker Condiment Claire. She would approach this meal by meal, starting with breakfast. “It might not seem so obvious,” she says, “but I put Branston pickle on my avocado toast. If you think about it, you often add acidity, which is usually lemon, but chutney is punchy and has that same tang, as well as a bit of texture
Divine dining: Australian church restaurants claim their own devout followings
At these places of worship, secular and churchgoing diners place their orders for coffee, curry puffs and za’atar pastries, served with kindnessGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailOn Sunday mornings, thousands stream through Our Lady of Lebanon Co-Cathedral, a Lebanese Maronite Catholic church in Sydney’s western suburbs. In between back-to-back mass services, worshippers rush to its onsite cafe, Five Loaves.“Sunday is our busiest day,” says Yasmin Salim, who has fronted the counter for eight years. Lines are long and diners’ appetites are large: a single customer might ask for 10 pizzas and 10 pastries flavoured with za’atar, the Middle Eastern herb mix. “It’s like at Maccas, everyone wants their french fries,” says Salim
How to make rotis – recipe | Felicity Cloake's Masterclass
These staple north Indian flatbreads come in a variety of forms – thinner, softer versions cooked on a flat tawa are also known as chapatis, while phulkas employ the same dough, but are held over a flame until they puff like a balloon. Either way, they’re great for scooping up meat and vegetables, or for mopping up sauce. Years of practice makes perfect, but this recipe is a good place to start.Prep 25 min Rest 30 min Cook 15 min Makes 8165g atta (chapati) flour, plus extra for dusting (see step 1)¼ tsp fine salt 1 tsp neutral oil Melted ghee or butter, to serve (optional)If you can’t find atta flour, which is a flavourful, very finely milled wholemeal flour that can be found in south Asian specialists and larger supermarkets, food writer Roopa Gulati recommends using a 50:50 mixture of plain flour and wholemeal flour instead. Put the flour and salt in a large bowl, whisk briefly, then make a well in the middle
Sex offender freed from Wandsworth prison by mistake is back in custody
Tom Butler obituary
‘A job is like finding a needle in a haystack’: how Dudley became centre of UK’s youth jobs crisis
Emma Barnett says she felt ‘mugged, robbed’ after perimenopause at 38
NHS to take over state-of-the-art hospital from private health group in ‘windfall’
Call to give UK cancer patients legal right to be treated within two months