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I have a few thoughts about the comments delivered by ESPN broadcaster a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz in the New York major quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is from the US – and sports often lend themselves to nationalism. Some letdown was understandable. Instead, he invoked the continued drought of US male players at the majors: not one of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone enjoy a storyline, me too. But really. Even if Fritz had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, whom he has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d someway 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 split the last seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz went on to thrash a tired Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz said in press after the loss that he actually preferred his draw, because it presented the chance to beat the three best competitors in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is well justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an competitor is meant 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?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the sole barrier standing in her way and consistent victories

Fritz, 28, is ranked fourth in the global rankings starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six matches over third-ranked the German with growing comfort. Presumably he might take that spot for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that is as far as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of ranking points away. Fritz’s elite serve and powerful power on each forehand and reverse side are more than adequate to dispose of most rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is frequently helpless. The last several seasons has seen the curious emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless move around with the alarming quickness and fluidity of smaller men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the other player was controlling, and playing a drop shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite harsh restriction on his upside.

The American has made a number of dramatic, improbable improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly surged up to fourth place – and held the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What could the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing slump of US male players lifting major titles when Fritz had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the appreciation for the magnitude of the challenge insufficient.

Taylor Fritz made a career-best advancement to the All England Club last four in the summer.

Fritz’s play in that exact last eight match ought to have been enough of an sign. The Serbian won in four sets, a win that only felt tenuous for moments towards the very end, when the American had saved a couple match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz earning plenty of chances to break. But the champion rescued break point after break point, prolonging the run to the point of frustration. When Fritz finally did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a horrendous game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a battle secondary to the main contest and compelled him to expend excessive effort to win it. Facing set points in the final game, Fritz’s first serve floated to the sky. He extended the match twice on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, just a consequence of needing to hit too many second serves.

The match was fairly compelling proof that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of the Serbian, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and never especially appeared like he believed he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has developed enough experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were expecting the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in media sessions, more so than virtually anyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just say how he feels or the tactic he felt decided a match, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the responsibility for the United States not spawn a male major champion since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Group

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

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I don’t accomplish it,” Fritz told an interviewer in June of claiming a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not achieve that objective, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable empire is actually highly unlikely for all other players. {