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I have a few thoughts regarding that comments made by ESPN broadcaster Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's victory over the American player in the US Open quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is American – and sports often lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of letdown was understandable. Instead, Fowler invoked the ongoing absence of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone love a storyline, me too. But really. Suppose the American defeated the legend for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, who he has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder the Italian, versus him the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the next round). He stated in press after the loss that he in fact preferred his draw, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the three best competitors in the world in succession. Fritz is well justified to aim for the achievement; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But entering that Djokovic quarter-final who else sensibly had the drought of American champions in mind?

The American star's weaker delivery the only thing between her and consistent victories

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed fourth in the world entering this week’s year-end championships and has secured his previous six matches over No 3 the German with increasing ease. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that is as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of ranking points away. Fritz’s elite serve and concussive strength on each front side and reverse side are more than enough to defeat the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the select few generational talents, though, he is often helpless. The past few seasons has seen the curious emergence of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless move around with the surprising quickness and grace of much shorter players. Fritz is six-foot-five and looks it. His footwork is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was dictating, and hitting a soft shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty severe restriction on his potential.

The American has made a several dramatic, improbable improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the top 30. Two years after, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and even a declining Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was Fowler thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing slump of American men lifting major titles when he had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just too much and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

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

Fritz’s performance in that very quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian won in four rounds, a victory that only felt tenuous for moments towards the very end, when the American had saved a few match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American creating plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the run to the point of agony. When Fritz eventually did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a terrible service game to drop serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle secondary to the main contest and compelled him to expend excessive energy to win it. Facing set points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery sailed to the sky. He extended the match twice on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, just a result of needing to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was quite compelling evidence that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of the Serbian, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and never particularly seem like he believed he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has acquired sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The issue is the individuals who were expecting the American to prevail, and pressuring him to do so, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he would.

The American is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective voice in media sessions, more so than almost anyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only express his emotions or the strategy he believed determined a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States not spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unjust. (Since Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

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

Bjorn Borg Group

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably dwell on it forever if I fail to do it,” Fritz told an interviewer in June of winning a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is in fact extremely unlikely for all other players. {