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I have some thoughts about that remarks made by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz during the US Open last eight. Consider – Fritz is American, the commentator is American – and sports frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment would have been understandable. Rather, he invoked the continued drought of US male players 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. Suppose the American had beaten Djokovic for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, versus him the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also divided the last seven grand slams (and Alcaraz went on to thrash a tired Djokovic in the subsequent match). Fritz said in press after the loss that he in fact preferred his path, because it offered the opportunity to beat the three best players in the world back-to-back. Fritz is well within his right to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic last eight match who else sensibly had the lack of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier between her and consistent victories

The American, 28, is placed fourth in the global rankings entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that at present, that is as far as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. His elite delivery and powerful power on both forehand and backhand are sufficiently enough to defeat the majority of rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of generational talents, however, Fritz is often overmatched. The last several years has witnessed the interesting rise of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless move around with the surprising speed and fluidity of much shorter men. He is six-foot-five and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was controlling, and playing a soft shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a quite harsh restriction on his potential.

Fritz has made a several significant, improbable improvements over the years. Early on of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he suddenly exploded to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, the Italian, 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 mentioning the ongoing slump of American men lifting major titles when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the task too little.

Taylor Fritz achieved a career-best advancement to the All England Club last four in the summer.

The American's play in that very quarter-final ought to have been enough of an indication. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a win that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had saved a few match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair looked evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz creating numerous chances to break. But the champion saved service break opportunity after break point, extending the streak to the brink of agony. When he eventually did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a horrendous service game to lose his own serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a battle secondary to the main contest and forced him to expend far too much effort to prevail. Down match points in the last game, his first serve floated to the sky. He extended the contest twice on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, only a result of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly compelling evidence that Fritz is not good enough to beat any form of Djokovic, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and did not particularly seem like he thought he could triumph. This is perfectly fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were expecting the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a patient, reflective presence in media sessions, more so than almost anyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just express his emotions or the tactic he believed determined a match, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for the United States not produce a male major champion since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I don’t accomplish it,” the American told an interviewer in the summer of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is actually highly unlikely for everybody else. {