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I have a few thoughts regarding the comments delivered by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer after the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz during the US Open last eight. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is from the US – and sports often encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown would have been appropriate. Rather, Fowler invoked the ongoing absence of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them had lifted a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the competition.

Everyone enjoy a narrative, me too. But really. Suppose the American had beaten Djokovic for the first time, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the following match, who Fritz 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 previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the previous seven major titles (and the Spaniard went on to thrash a tired Djokovic in the next round). Fritz said in press after the loss that he in fact liked his path, because it offered the opportunity to defeat the top three competitors in the world in succession. He is more than justified to aim for the achievement; an competitor is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match what other person in their right mind had the lack of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the sole barrier between her and consistent victories

The American, twenty-eight, is ranked number four in the world entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that is as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of performance metrics away. His elite serve and concussive strength on each forehand and reverse side are more than adequate to defeat most rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is often overmatched. The last several years has seen the interesting emergence of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless move around with the alarming quickness and fluidity of much shorter men. He is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a soft shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a quite severe limitation on his upside.

The American has made a number of significant, unexpected advancements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the bottom of the top 30. 24 months later, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly surged to No 4 – and held the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and even a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was Fowler thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing drought of American men lifting major titles when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge insufficient.

Taylor Fritz made a career-best run to the All England Club semi-finals in July.

The American's play in that very quarter-final ought to have been enough of an indication. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a win that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had survived a few championship opportunities and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz earning numerous opportunities to break. But the champion saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the brink of frustration. When he eventually did claim a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately played a terrible service game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and compelled him to use far too much energy to win it. Facing match points in the final game, his primary delivery sailed to heaven. He extended the contest two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, just a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly compelling proof that Fritz is not good enough to beat any form of Djokovic, that lost to Alcaraz in the next round and did not particularly appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, but has developed enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is those who were expecting Fritz to prevail, and pressuring him to do so, when he was had not done anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in media sessions, more so than virtually anyone on the ATP aside from the Russian star, willing to not just say how he feels or the tactic he felt determined a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for the United States not spawn a male major champion since the last American titlist seems unjust. (Since Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Division

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably think about it forever if I don’t accomplish it,” Fritz told an interviewer in the summer of claiming a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not achieve that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is actually extremely unlikely for all other players. {