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I possess some thoughts about the remarks made by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's win over the American player in the US Open last eight. Look – Fritz is American, the commentator is from the US – and sports frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some letdown was appropriate. Rather, Fowler invoked the continued drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: none of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the competition.

We all enjoy a storyline, me too. But really. Even if Fritz defeated the legend for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the next round, whom he has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the last seven grand slams (and Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a fatigued Djokovic 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 beat the three best competitors in the sport back-to-back. He is more than justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an competitor is supposed to believe in themselves. But entering that Djokovic quarter-final who else sensibly had the drought of US winners on the brain?

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

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed fourth in the world starting this week’s year-end championships and has won his previous six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he might claim that position for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that is as high as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. His elite serve and powerful power on each forehand and reverse side are sufficiently enough to dispose of the majority of rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is often overmatched. The past few seasons has witnessed the interesting rise of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless move around with the alarming quickness and fluidity of much shorter men. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His movement is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was dictating, and playing a soft shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a quite severe restriction on his potential.

The American has achieved a several significant, unexpected advancements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly exploded up to fourth place – and maintained the position. But the next leap, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a declining Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was Fowler thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing slump of American men lifting grand slams when he had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

The American star achieved a personal best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in the summer.

Fritz’s performance in that very last eight match ought to have been enough of an sign. The Serbian triumphed in four sets, a victory that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a couple match points and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz earning plenty of opportunities to break. But the champion rescued break point after service break opportunity, extending the streak to the point of frustration. When he eventually did claim one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a terrible service game to drop serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and compelled him to expend excessive energy to win it. Down match points in the last game, his first serve sailed to the sky. He extended the contest twice on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, only a result of having to hit too many second serves.

The contest was quite ironclad proof that Fritz is not good enough to beat any form of Djokovic, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the following match and did not especially seem like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities anymore, but has developed sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The issue is those who were anticipating the American to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he could.

Fritz is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in press conferences, more so than almost anyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only say his emotions or the strategy he believed decided a match, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the blame for America not produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Group

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Group

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

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” the American told a journalist in the summer of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is in fact highly improbable for everybody else. {