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I have a few opinions regarding the remarks made by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz during the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is American – and sports frequently lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of disappointment was appropriate. Instead, he invoked the ongoing absence of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them has won a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

We all enjoy a narrative, me too. But come on. Even if Fritz defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was looming in the following match, whom he has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven grand slams (and Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a tired Djokovic in the subsequent match). He stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact liked his draw, because it offered the opportunity to defeat the top three competitors in the sport back-to-back. He is more than within his right to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final what other person sensibly had the lack of American champions on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

The American, 28, is placed fourth in the world starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six encounters over third-ranked the German with growing comfort. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that’s as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s elite delivery and concussive strength on both forehand and backhand are more than adequate to defeat the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is often helpless. The past few years has seen the interesting rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless cover the court with the alarming quickness and fluidity of smaller men. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the opponent was controlling, and playing a drop shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a pretty harsh limitation on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a number of significant, unexpected advancements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the top 30. 24 months after, he was approaching the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly surged up to fourth place – and maintained the position. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the continuing slump of American men lifting major titles when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the appreciation for the magnitude of the challenge insufficient.

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

Fritz’s performance in that very quarter-final should have been sufficient of an indication. The Serbian won in four rounds, a win that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had saved a few championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American earning plenty of chances to break. But the champion rescued break point after break point, extending the streak to the point of frustration. When Fritz finally did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately produced a terrible game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and compelled him to expend far too much energy to win it. Down match points in the final game, his first serve floated to the sky. He extended the contest twice on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It was not a choke, in my opinion, just a result of needing to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was fairly compelling proof that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any form of the Serbian, that lost to the Spaniard in the next round and never particularly seem like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has developed sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is those who were expecting Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective voice in press conferences, more so than almost anyone on the men's tour except for the Russian star, willing to not only say how he feels or the tactic he felt determined a contest, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for America not spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Since Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, maybe they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

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

Bjorn Borg Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” the American informed an interviewer in June of winning a grand slam. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not achieve that objective, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is actually highly improbable for everybody else. {