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I have some thoughts about that remarks made by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer after the Serbian champion's win over the American player in the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is from the US – and sports frequently encourage nationalism. A little bit of letdown would have been understandable. Rather, Fowler brought up the continued drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: 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 love a narrative, myself included. But really. Suppose the American had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was looming in the following match, whom he has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard went on to thrash a tired Serbian in the next round). Fritz said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually preferred his path, because it offered the chance to defeat the three best competitors in the world back-to-back. Fritz is more than justified to aim for the achievement; an competitor is meant to have faith in themselves. But entering that Djokovic last eight match who else sensibly had the lack of US winners on the brain?

The American star's weaker delivery the sole barrier between her and consistent victories

Fritz, 28, is placed fourth in the world starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six encounters over third-ranked the German with increasing ease. It's likely he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that is as far as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class serve and concussive power on both forehand and reverse side are more than enough to defeat most rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The past few years has witnessed the interesting rise of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and grace of much shorter players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was dictating, and playing a drop shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a pretty severe restriction on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a number of significant, improbable improvements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was sniffing the top 10. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged up to No 4 – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a aging Serbian, is the toughest of all. What could the commentator have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing drought of American men lifting grand slams when he had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

Taylor Fritz achieved a personal best run to the All England Club last four in the summer.

Fritz’s play in that very quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only felt uncertain for moments towards the conclusion, when the American had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz creating plenty of opportunities to break. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the streak to the point of agony. When Fritz eventually did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a horrendous game to drop serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and forced him to expend far too much effort to prevail. Down set points in the final game, Fritz’s first serve floated to the sky. He extended the match two times on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, just a result of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly ironclad proof that Fritz is not good enough to defeat any version of the Serbian, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and did not particularly appeared like he believed he could win. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired enough experience and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is those who were anticipating Fritz to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he would.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in press conferences, more so than almost anyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just express his emotions or the tactic he felt decided a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for America failing to spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I don’t do it,” Fritz told an interviewer in June of winning a major. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is actually extremely unlikely for all other players. {