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I have a few opinions regarding that comments made by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer after the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz during the New York major quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is American, the commentator is from the US – and sports often encourage patriotic sentiment. Some letdown was understandable. Rather, Fowler invoked the ongoing drought of American men at the majors: not one of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone love a narrative, me too. But really. Even if the American defeated the legend for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, whom he has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven grand slams (and the Spaniard went on to defeat a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). He stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact liked his path, because it presented the chance to defeat the three best competitors in the world back-to-back. He is well justified to aim for the achievement; an competitor is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final what other person sensibly had the lack of US winners on the brain?

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

The American, 28, is placed number four in the global rankings starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the future. But evidently that at present, that’s as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of ranking points away. His top-class serve and concussive strength on both front side and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to defeat most rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is often overmatched. The last several years has witnessed the interesting emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless move around with the surprising quickness and grace of smaller men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he seldom win a rally that the opponent was dictating, and playing a drop shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite severe restriction on his potential.

The American has achieved a several dramatic, 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 top 10. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged to No 4 – and held the spot. But the next leap, competing against and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a aging Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the ongoing slump of US male players winning major titles when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

The American star made a personal best advancement to the All England Club last four in July.

Fritz’s performance in that very quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic won in four sets, a victory that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had survived a couple match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz creating numerous chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after break point, extending the streak to the point of frustration. When Fritz finally did claim a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a terrible game to lose his own serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a battle peripheral to the real battle and forced him to expend excessive energy to win it. Facing set points in the final game, Fritz’s first serve floated to the sky. He prolonged the contest twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, only a result of needing to hit too many second serves.

The match was quite compelling evidence that Fritz is not good enough to beat any form of the Serbian, that lost to the Spaniard in the following match and did not particularly appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak 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 do so, when he was had not accomplished anything that indicated he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in media sessions, exceeding almost anyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just say how he feels or the tactic he felt 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 the last American titlist seems unjust. (Since the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

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

Swedish icon Division

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I fail to do it,” Fritz told a journalist in the summer of claiming a major. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is in fact extremely improbable for everybody else. {