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I possess a few opinions about that comments delivered by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer after the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz during the US Open quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is from the US – and sports frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment was understandable. Instead, he brought up the ongoing absence of US male players at the majors: not one of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone enjoy a storyline, me too. But really. Even if Fritz defeated Djokovic for the first time, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the next round, who he has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d someway survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven major titles (plus the Spaniard proceeded to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the next round). He stated in press following his defeat that he in fact preferred his path, because it offered the chance to beat the three best competitors in the world back-to-back. Fritz is more than justified to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is meant to have faith in themselves. But entering that Djokovic quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the lack of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing between her and consistent victories

Fritz, 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 third-ranked the German with growing comfort. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard sit a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite delivery and powerful strength on both front side and reverse side are more than adequate to dispose of most rivals on the ATP tour. Against the select few generational talents, however, he is frequently helpless. The past few seasons has witnessed the curious emergence of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless move around with the alarming speed and fluidity of much shorter players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the opponent was controlling, and playing a drop shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a pretty severe restriction on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a several significant, unexpected improvements over the years. Early on of the ten-year period, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was sniffing the top 10. The previous season, he suddenly exploded to No 4 – and held the position. But the next leap, competing against and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a declining Djokovic, is the highest of all. What was Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the ongoing drought of US male players winning major titles when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge insufficient.

The American star achieved a career-best advancement to the All England Club last four in July.

Fritz’s play in that exact quarter-final ought to have been enough of an indication. The Serbian won in four sets, a win that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz earning numerous chances to break. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after break point, extending the streak to the brink of agony. When Fritz finally did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a horrendous game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and forced him to expend excessive effort to win it. Facing match points in the final game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to the sky. He prolonged the match two times on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, only a result of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was quite compelling proof that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any form of Djokovic, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and did not particularly seem like he believed he could triumph. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The issue is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to accomplished anything that indicated he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective voice in press conferences, more so than almost anyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just express how he feels or the strategy he believed determined a contest, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for America failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I don’t accomplish it,” the American informed a journalist in the summer of winning a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is in fact highly unlikely for everybody else. {