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I possess a few thoughts about that comments made by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player in the US Open last eight. Look – Fritz is American, Fowler is from the US – and sports frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment was appropriate. Instead, he invoked the continued absence of American men at the majors: not one of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the competition.

Everyone love a storyline, myself included. But really. Suppose Fritz had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the following match, whom Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz went on to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the next round). He said in press after the loss that he actually liked his draw, because it presented the chance to beat the three best competitors in the sport in succession. He is well within his right to aim for the achievement; an competitor is supposed to believe in themselves. But entering that Serbian last eight match who else in their right mind had the drought of US winners in mind?

The American star's second serve the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the global rankings starting this week’s year-end championships and has won his previous six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that is as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of ranking points away. His elite serve and concussive power on both forehand and reverse side are sufficiently enough to defeat the majority of rivals on the ATP tour. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is often helpless. The past few years has seen the interesting emergence of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless cover the court with the alarming quickness and fluidity of much shorter men. He is six-foot-five and appears that way. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom win a rally that the opponent was controlling, and playing a soft shot against him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a pretty harsh limitation on his upside.

Fritz has made a number of significant, improbable improvements throughout his career. Early on of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was approaching the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly exploded to No 4 – and held the spot. But the next leap, competing against and beating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a declining Djokovic, is the toughest 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 mentioning the continuing drought of US male players lifting grand slams when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the appreciation for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

Taylor Fritz achieved a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon last four in the summer.

Fritz’s play in that very quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an indication. The Serbian won in four rounds, a victory that only felt uncertain for moments towards the very end, when the American had survived a few match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz creating plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the brink of frustration. When Fritz finally did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a terrible game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle secondary to the main contest and compelled him to expend far too much effort to prevail. Facing match points in the final game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to the sky. He prolonged the match two times on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It was not a choke, in my opinion, just a result of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly ironclad evidence that Fritz is not good enough to defeat any version of the Serbian, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and never particularly seem like he believed he could win. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and might not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired enough experience and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The problem is the individuals who were expecting the American to win, and pressuring him to do so, when he was had not accomplished anything that indicated he would.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in media sessions, more so than almost anyone on the ATP aside from the Russian star, willing to not just express his emotions or the tactic he believed determined a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the responsibility for the United States failing to spawn a male major champion since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Group

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

Bjorn Borg Division

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I fail to do it,” Fritz informed a journalist in the summer of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is actually highly unlikely for all other players. {