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I have a few thoughts regarding that comments made by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz during the US Open last eight. Consider – Fritz is American, the commentator is American – and sports frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment was appropriate. Rather, he brought up the ongoing absence of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone enjoy a storyline, myself included. But really. Suppose the American defeated the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the following match, who he has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d someway survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him Fritz had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the last seven major titles (and the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). Fritz said in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually liked his draw, because it presented the chance to beat the top three competitors in the world in succession. He is well within his right to aim for the accomplishment; an competitor is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final who else sensibly had the lack of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing between her and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is ranked number four in the global rankings starting the upcoming year-end championships and has secured his last six matches over third-ranked the German with increasing ease. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that right now, that’s as far as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of ranking points away. His elite delivery and powerful power on each forehand and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to defeat most rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the select few generational talents, though, he is often overmatched. The past few seasons has witnessed the interesting rise of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless move around with the surprising speed and grace of smaller men. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His footwork is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was dictating, and playing a drop shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite severe limitation on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a several significant, improbable advancements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly surged to No 4 – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a declining Djokovic, is the highest of all. What could Fowler thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the continuing drought of US male players winning grand slams when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply too much and the respect for the magnitude of the task too little.

Taylor Fritz made a career-best run to the All England Club last four in the summer.

Fritz’s play in that exact quarter-final should have been enough of an indication. The Serbian won in four rounds, a victory that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had saved a few championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American earning numerous chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the point of frustration. When he eventually did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a horrendous game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle peripheral to the real battle and forced him to use far too much effort to prevail. Down set points in the final game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to the sky. He prolonged the match two times on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, just a consequence of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The match was quite ironclad proof that the American is not good enough to defeat any form of the Serbian, that lost to Alcaraz in the next round and never particularly seem like he believed he could triumph. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has acquired enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were expecting the American to prevail, and pressuring him to do so, when he was had not done anything that indicated he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a patient, reflective presence in media sessions, exceeding virtually everyone on the ATP except for the Russian star, willing to not just say how he feels or the tactic he believed decided a contest, but clarify it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for America failing to produce a male major champion since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that load.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

American legend Group

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

Bjorn Borg Division

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” the American told a journalist in June of claiming a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not fulfill that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying empire is in fact extremely unlikely for everybody else. {