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I have a few thoughts about that remarks made by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's win over the American player in the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – Fritz is American, the commentator is from the US – and sports frequently encourage nationalism. A little bit of letdown would have been appropriate. Rather, Fowler brought up the continued absence of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone enjoy a narrative, me too. But come on. Suppose Fritz had beaten the legend for the first time, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the next round, who Fritz has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard went on to thrash a tired Serbian in the next round). He stated in press after the loss that he in fact preferred his path, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the top three competitors in the sport in succession. Fritz is more than justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But entering that Djokovic last eight match who else sensibly had the lack of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is ranked number four in the world entering the upcoming year-end championships and has secured his previous six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. Presumably he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that at present, that’s as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite delivery and concussive strength on each front side and backhand are more than adequate to dispose of most rivals on the ATP tour. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is frequently overmatched. The past few years has seen the interesting emergence of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless move around with the surprising speed and fluidity of smaller players. He is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the other player was controlling, and playing a drop shot against him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a quite harsh restriction on his potential.

The American has made a number of significant, unexpected improvements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. 24 months later, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly surged to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a aging Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What could the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the continuing slump of US male players lifting major titles when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the task too little.

The American star achieved a career-best run to the Wimbledon last four in the summer.

Fritz’s play in that very last eight match ought to have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had survived a couple match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American creating plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved break point after service break opportunity, extending the run to the point of agony. When Fritz finally did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a horrendous service game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and compelled him to expend excessive effort to prevail. Facing set points in the last game, his first serve floated to heaven. He prolonged the contest twice on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, just a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly ironclad evidence that Fritz is not good enough to defeat any version of the Serbian, that lost to the Spaniard in the next round and never particularly appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the best player ever, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is those who were expecting Fritz to win, and pressuring him to do so, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective presence in press conferences, more so than almost anyone on the men's tour aside from the Russian star, willing to not only express his emotions or the tactic he felt determined a contest, but clarify it. That he should bear the brunt of the blame for America not produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Division

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz told a journalist in the summer of winning a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not achieve that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is in fact highly unlikely for everybody else. {