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I possess a few thoughts about the remarks made by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's victory over the American player in the US Open last eight. Consider – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is American – and sports frequently encourage nationalism. A little bit of disappointment was understandable. Instead, he invoked the ongoing drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: none of them had lifted a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the competition.

We all love a storyline, myself included. But really. Suppose Fritz defeated the legend for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, who he has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him the American had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the last seven grand slams (and Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a tired Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact preferred his path, because it presented the chance to beat the top three players in the world back-to-back. Fritz is well justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final who else in their right mind had the lack of US winners in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier between her and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the global rankings starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six encounters over third-ranked the German with increasing ease. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that’s as far as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of ranking points away. His elite delivery and concussive power on both forehand and reverse side are sufficiently enough to defeat most opponents on the ATP tour. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is frequently overmatched. The last several years has seen the curious rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless move around with the surprising quickness and grace of smaller players. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was controlling, and playing a drop shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a pretty harsh restriction on his upside.

Fritz has made a number of dramatic, unexpected improvements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly surged up to fourth place – and held the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a aging Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator 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 continuing drought of US male players lifting major titles when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

The American star made a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

Fritz’s play in that very quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only felt tenuous for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a few match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz earning numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the streak to the brink of frustration. When he eventually did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a horrendous game to drop serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and forced him to expend excessive energy to win it. Facing set points in the final game, his first serve sailed to heaven. He prolonged the contest two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a choke, in my opinion, only a result of having to hit too many second serves.

The contest was quite compelling evidence that Fritz is not good enough to beat any form of the Serbian, who lost to the Spaniard in the following match and never especially appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired sufficient experience and tactical know-how to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is those who were expecting Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in media sessions, exceeding virtually everyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only say his emotions or the tactic he felt determined a match, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States not produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Division

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz told a journalist in June of winning a grand slam. It is hoped he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not fulfill that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is in fact highly unlikely for all other players. {