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I possess a few opinions about the comments made by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz during the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is American – and athletic competitions often encourage nationalism. Some disappointment would have been appropriate. Rather, Fowler brought up the continued drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

We all love a narrative, me too. But really. Even if Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was looming in the next round, who Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And had he somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven major titles (and Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). He stated in press after the loss that he in fact preferred his path, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the top three competitors in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is well justified to aim for the achievement; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic last eight match who else sensibly had the drought of US winners in mind?

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

Fritz, 28, is ranked number four in the global rankings starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his previous six encounters over No 3 the German with increasing ease. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as far as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard sit a chasm of ranking points away. His top-class delivery and powerful power on both front side and backhand are sufficiently enough to dispose of most rivals on the professional circuit. Against the handful of generational talents, though, Fritz is often overmatched. The past few seasons has witnessed the interesting rise of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless move around with the alarming speed and grace of much shorter players. He is six-foot-five 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 controlling, and playing a drop shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a pretty severe restriction on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a several significant, improbable advancements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the top 30. 24 months later, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged to fourth place – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a aging Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the continuing drought of American men winning grand slams when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

The American star achieved a personal best advancement to the Wimbledon last four in July.

The American's play in that very quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an indication. The Serbian triumphed in four sets, a victory that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz earning plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the streak to the brink of agony. When Fritz finally did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately produced a terrible service game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and forced him to use far too much energy to prevail. Down set points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to the sky. He extended the contest two times on his second serve, but ultimately double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, only a result of needing to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was fairly ironclad proof that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any version of the Serbian, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and never particularly appeared like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has developed sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were expecting the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to accomplished anything that indicated he could.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in media sessions, more so than virtually everyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just express his emotions or the tactic he felt decided a match, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for the United States not produce a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably dwell on it forever if I don’t do it,” Fritz informed a journalist in June of claiming a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not achieve that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is in fact extremely unlikely for all other players. {