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I have a few opinions about the remarks made by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's win over the American player during the New York major last eight. Look – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is American – and sports frequently encourage nationalism. A little bit of letdown would have been understandable. Instead, he brought up the continued drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them had lifted a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

We all enjoy a storyline, me too. But come on. Even if Fritz defeated Djokovic for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the next round, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an official match. And had he somehow survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven grand slams (and Alcaraz went on to defeat a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). He stated in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually liked his draw, because it presented the chance to beat the three best competitors in the world in succession. Fritz is more than justified to aim for the accomplishment; an competitor is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final who else sensibly had the lack of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing between her and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is ranked number four in the world entering the upcoming year-end championships and has won his previous six matches over No 3 the German with growing comfort. It's likely he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that at present, that’s as far as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard sit a chasm of ranking points away. His elite delivery and concussive power on each forehand and reverse side are sufficiently enough to defeat the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is often helpless. The past few seasons has witnessed the interesting emergence of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless cover the court with the alarming speed and fluidity of smaller players. He is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the other player was dictating, and playing a drop shot against him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a quite harsh limitation on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a several significant, improbable improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. Two years later, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, competing against and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, Sinner, and even a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What could the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the continuing drought of American men winning major titles when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just too much and the appreciation for the magnitude of the task insufficient.

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

The American's play in that exact quarter-final should have been enough of an indication. Djokovic triumphed in four rounds, a win that only felt uncertain for moments towards the very end, when the American had survived a few match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz creating numerous chances to break. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after break point, extending the streak to the point of frustration. When Fritz eventually did claim one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately produced a horrendous game to drop serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle secondary to the real battle and compelled him to expend far too much energy to win it. Down set points in the final game, his first serve floated to the sky. He extended the match twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a choke, in my opinion, just a consequence of needing to hit too many second serves.

The match was fairly ironclad proof that Fritz is not good enough to defeat any version of the Serbian, who lost to Alcaraz in the following match and did not especially seem like he believed he could win. This is perfectly fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, but has developed enough knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not done anything that indicated he would.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in press conferences, more so than almost everyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only say how he feels or the tactic he felt decided a match, but explain it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for the United States not produce a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Division

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

Bjorn Borg Division

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” the American told an interviewer in the summer of claiming a major. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is actually highly unlikely for all other players. {