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I have a few thoughts regarding that remarks delivered by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz during the US Open last eight. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is American – and athletic competitions frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment would have been understandable. Instead, he brought up the continued drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one 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 love a narrative, myself included. But really. Even if Fritz defeated the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, whom Fritz has never defeated in an official match. And had he someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven grand slams (and Alcaraz proceeded to defeat a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). Fritz said in post-match interviews after the loss that he in fact liked his draw, because it presented the chance to defeat the three best competitors in the sport back-to-back. He is well within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final who else sensibly had the drought of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the sole barrier between her and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is ranked number four in the world entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six encounters over No 3 the German with growing comfort. It's likely he might take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that at present, that’s as far as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a vast gap of ranking points away. His elite delivery and powerful strength on each forehand and backhand are sufficiently enough to dispose of the majority of rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is often helpless. The past few years has seen the curious rise of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and grace of smaller players. Fritz is six-foot-five and appears that way. His movement is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was dictating, and hitting a drop shot against him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a pretty severe restriction on his upside.

Fritz has made a number of significant, improbable advancements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was approaching the top 10. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged to fourth place – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What could Fowler thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing drought of US male players winning grand slams when Fritz had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply too much and the respect for the magnitude of the task too little.

The American star achieved a personal best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

The American's performance in that exact quarter-final should have been sufficient of an indication. The Serbian triumphed in four sets, a victory that only felt tenuous for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz creating plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued break point after break point, extending the streak to the brink of frustration. When he eventually did claim a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a horrendous game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the real battle and compelled him to expend excessive effort to prevail. Facing set points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to heaven. He extended the match twice on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, just a result of needing to hit too many second serves.

The contest was fairly ironclad evidence that the American is not good enough to beat any form of the Serbian, that lost to the Spaniard in the next round and did not especially appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has developed sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is those who were expecting Fritz to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that indicated he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in press conferences, exceeding virtually anyone on the men's tour aside from the Russian star, willing to not only express his emotions or the strategy he felt decided a contest, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for the United States failing to spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Since the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Division

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely think about it forever if I fail to do it,” the American told an interviewer in the summer of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is actually extremely unlikely for all other players. {