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I possess a few opinions regarding that remarks made by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's victory over the American player in the US Open quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is American – and athletic competitions frequently lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of letdown would have been understandable. Instead, Fowler invoked the continued absence of US male players at the majors: none of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the competition.

Everyone enjoy a storyline, myself included. But really. Even if Fritz had beaten the legend for the first time, force of nature the Spanish star was waiting in the next round, who Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been title holder the Italian, versus him the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the last seven major titles (plus Alcaraz went on to defeat a fatigued Djokovic in the next round). Fritz said in post-match interviews after the loss that he in fact liked 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 aim for the accomplishment; an competitor is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the drought of American champions on the brain?

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

Fritz, 28, is ranked fourth in the global rankings starting the upcoming year-end championships and has secured his last six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that is as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a chasm of ranking points away. His elite delivery and concussive strength on both forehand and reverse side are sufficiently enough to dispose of the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. Against the handful of generational talents, though, he is often helpless. The past few seasons has witnessed the curious emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless cover the court with the surprising speed and grace of smaller men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was controlling, and playing a soft shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a quite harsh restriction on his potential.

Fritz has made a several dramatic, improbable improvements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was approaching the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly surged up to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What could the commentator have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing drought of American men lifting major titles when he had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the appreciation for the magnitude of the task too little.

Taylor Fritz achieved a personal best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in the summer.

Fritz’s performance in that very quarter-final should have been sufficient of an indication. The Serbian won in four sets, a win that only seemed tenuous for moments towards the conclusion, when Fritz had survived a few match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz earning plenty of chances to break. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the streak to the point of agony. When Fritz finally did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a terrible service game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had lulled 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 last game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to the sky. He prolonged the contest twice on his second serve, but finally committed two errors. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, only a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The match was quite compelling evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of the Serbian, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and never particularly seem like he believed he could win. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and might not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has developed enough knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is those who were expecting Fritz to prevail, and pressuring him to do so, when he was yet to accomplished anything that indicated he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in media sessions, more so than almost everyone on the ATP except for the Russian star, willing to not just express how he feels or the tactic he believed determined a match, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the blame for America not spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Group

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably dwell on it forever if I fail to do it,” Fritz told an interviewer in June of winning a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is in fact extremely improbable for all other players. {