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I have some opinions regarding the comments made by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz during the US Open last eight. Consider – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is from the US – and sports often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown was understandable. Instead, Fowler brought up the ongoing 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 last one standing in the competition.

Everyone enjoy a narrative, me too. But really. Suppose the American defeated the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the next round, who he has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And had he somehow gotten past that, it would have been title holder the Italian, versus him Fritz had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven grand slams (and the Spaniard went on to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually preferred his path, because it presented the chance to defeat the top three competitors in the sport in succession. Fritz is well justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an competitor is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the drought of American champions in mind?

The American star's second serve the only thing between her and sustained success

The American, twenty-eight, is ranked fourth in the global rankings starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his previous six encounters over No 3 the German with increasing ease. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that is as far as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s elite serve and powerful strength on each front side and backhand are sufficiently adequate to defeat most opponents on the professional circuit. Against the handful of generational talents, however, he is frequently helpless. The last several years has witnessed the interesting rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless move around with the surprising quickness and fluidity of smaller players. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was controlling, and hitting a drop shot versus him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty harsh restriction on his potential.

The American has made a number of significant, unexpected advancements throughout his career. Early on of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was approaching the top 10. The previous season, he suddenly exploded up to No 4 – and held the spot. But the next leap, competing against and defeating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What could the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing drought of American men lifting major titles when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the appreciation for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

Taylor Fritz made a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in the summer.

Fritz’s play in that exact quarter-final should have been enough of an indication. The Serbian won in four sets, a win that only felt tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a few championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the rallies, with the American earning plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the point of agony. When he finally did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a terrible service game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a battle peripheral to the real battle and forced him to use far too much energy to prevail. Facing match points in the final game, his primary delivery sailed to heaven. He extended the contest two times on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, only a consequence of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was quite compelling evidence that Fritz is not good enough to defeat any form of the Serbian, that lost to Alcaraz in the following match and never particularly appeared like he thought he could win. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has acquired enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is those who were expecting Fritz to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, reflective presence in press conferences, more so than virtually anyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only express his emotions or the strategy he believed decided a match, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Group

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I don’t accomplish it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in the summer of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is actually extremely improbable for all other players. {