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I possess some opinions about the comments delivered by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz during the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is American – and athletic competitions frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. Some letdown was appropriate. Instead, he brought up the continued drought of American men at the majors: none of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone love a narrative, myself included. But come on. Even if the American defeated the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, whom Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also divided the last seven major titles (plus Alcaraz went on to defeat a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). Fritz stated in press following his defeat that he in fact liked his path, because it presented the chance to defeat the top three competitors in the sport back-to-back. He is more than justified to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic last eight match who else in their right mind had the lack of American champions in mind?

The American star's second serve the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

The American, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the global rankings entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he might take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that is as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a chasm of ranking points away. His top-class delivery and concussive strength on each front side and backhand are more than adequate to dispose of the majority of rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is often overmatched. The past few seasons has seen the curious emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nevertheless move around with the alarming speed and grace of much shorter players. Fritz is six-foot-five and appears that way. His movement is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the other player was dictating, and playing a soft shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite harsh limitation on his upside.

Fritz has made a number of significant, unexpected advancements over the years. Early on of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the lower end of the top 30. Two years later, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly exploded to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a aging Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What could Fowler thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing slump of American men winning grand slams when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

Taylor Fritz made a career-best run to the Wimbledon last four in July.

The American's performance in that exact quarter-final should have been enough of an sign. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the conclusion, when Fritz had survived a few match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz creating numerous opportunities to break. But the champion saved break point after service break opportunity, extending the streak to the brink of frustration. When he eventually did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a terrible game to drop serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and compelled him to use excessive energy to win it. Facing set points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery sailed to heaven. He extended the contest two times on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, just a consequence of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The match was fairly ironclad proof that the American is not good enough to defeat any version of Djokovic, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and never especially seem like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has acquired enough experience and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The problem is those who were anticipating Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he would.

The American is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in media sessions, exceeding virtually everyone on the ATP except for the Russian star, willing to not only express how he feels or the strategy he believed decided a contest, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the blame for the United States failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unjust. (Since the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Division

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” Fritz told an interviewer in the summer of winning a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not achieve that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying empire is actually highly unlikely for everybody else. {