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I possess a few thoughts regarding that comments made by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's victory over the American player in the New York major last eight. Look – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is American – and sports often lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of disappointment was appropriate. Instead, he invoked the continued absence of US male players at the majors: not one of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the competition.

We all enjoy a storyline, myself included. But really. Even if Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the first time, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the next round, who Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And had he someway survived that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the last seven major titles (and Alcaraz proceeded to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the next round). Fritz stated in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually preferred his draw, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the top three players in the world back-to-back. He is more than justified to aim for the achievement; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the lack of US winners on the brain?

The American star's second serve the only thing standing in her way and consistent victories

The American, twenty-eight, is ranked number four in the world starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he could 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. Fritz’s elite serve and concussive power on both forehand and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to dispose of the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. Against the handful of generational talents, however, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The last several years has witnessed the interesting rise of tall, gangly players who can nevertheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and fluidity of much shorter players. Fritz is six-foot-five and appears that way. His footwork is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was dictating, and playing a soft shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite harsh restriction on his upside.

The American has made a several dramatic, improbable advancements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly exploded up to No 4 – and held the position. But the next leap, competing against and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a aging Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing drought of American men winning grand slams when Fritz had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply too much and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

The American star made a career-best run to the Wimbledon semi-finals in the summer.

The American's play in that very quarter-final should have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic won in four rounds, a victory that only seemed tenuous for moments towards the conclusion, when the American had survived a couple match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz earning numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the streak to the brink of frustration. When Fritz eventually did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a horrendous game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and forced him to use far too much effort to prevail. Facing set points in the final game, his first serve sailed to heaven. He prolonged the contest two times on his second serve, but ultimately double-faulted. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, only a result of needing to hit too many second serves.

The match was quite compelling evidence that Fritz is not good enough to defeat any form of the Serbian, who lost to Alcaraz in the following match and did not especially seem like he believed he could win. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is those who were expecting Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that indicated he could.

The American is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a calm, reflective presence in media sessions, more so than virtually everyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only say how he feels or the tactic he believed determined a contest, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America not produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unjust. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” the American told a journalist in June of winning a grand slam. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable empire is in fact highly improbable for everybody else. {