By skyforbes 
Don’t count out the American men — or man — just yet.
The last representative, Taylor Fritz, doesn’t look ready to go anywhere.
The world No. 4 Fritz is headed back to the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open after his impressive straight-set victory over No. 21 Tomas Machac 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 at Louis Armstrong Stadium.
The early departures of No. 6 Ben Shelton, No. 14 Tommy Paul and No. 17 Frances Tiafoe left only Fritz.
If that brought any added pressure, he didn’t show it in reaching the quarterfinals in Queens for the third straight year.
“I guess it can be a good thing for me,” Fritz said. “Hopefully, the crowd is really going to get behind me now because I am the last guy.
“It’s surprising. I think it’s just been a rough week for the guys. I mean, it’s tough, Ben with the injury, then I think [Tiafoe] and Tommy just ran into some guys who were dangerous players, playing really good tennis, so it happens.”
Not to the 27-year-old Fritz.
He conceded just 13 points on his dominant serve without facing a break point in the brief one-hour, 38-minute rout.
He broke Machac late in each of the first two sets to take a commanding lead.
In the third, a Machac double-fault gave Fritz an early break, and he cruised from there.
After dropping a set in his previous two matches, he didn’t have nearly as much trouble.
Fritz did enough in the return game and was in complete control with his overpowering serve, notching 14 aces and winning an absurd 35 of 39 points on his first serve.
“I thought it was definitely the best match I have played so far in this tournament,” he said.
Fritz advances to face No. 7 Novak Djokovic, the 24-time Grand Slam champion.
The two have met 10 times before, with Fritz losing each matchup.
He obviously is a different player now, compared to several of their earlier encounters.
“I think the way to turn it around is just to become a better player,” Fritz said. “For me, in my head, I’m not thinking about all the losses I had to Novak, I don’t know, like, five years ago. I was nowhere near the level of player that I am now.”
Last summer, he broke through here to reach the final, where he lost to Jannik Sinner.
In doing so, Fritz became the first American man to play for a Grand Slam title in 15 years.
The last American to win a major was Andy Roddick 22 years ago at the U.S. Open.
The hope was that the drought would end in this tournament.
While only one American reached the fourth round, a disappointing result after four U.S. men got to that point a year ago, Fritz is carrying the torch pretty well for the time being.
“I’m happy to be here,” he said, “and hopefully, like I said, if the crowd can get behind me, we can do this.”