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I possess some opinions about that comments delivered by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's victory over the American player in the New York major last eight. Consider – Fritz is American, the commentator is American – and sports often encourage nationalism. Some letdown would have been appropriate. Instead, Fowler invoked the ongoing absence of American men at grand slam tournaments: none of them has won a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone enjoy a storyline, me too. But really. Even if Fritz defeated the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, who Fritz has yet to beat in an official match. And had he someway gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also divided the last seven grand slams (and Alcaraz went on to defeat a tired Serbian in the next round). He stated in press after the loss that he in fact preferred his path, because it offered the opportunity to defeat the top three players in the world in succession. Fritz is well within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; 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 ranked number four in the global rankings entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six encounters over No 3 the German with increasing ease. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that right now, that’s as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class serve and powerful strength on both forehand and backhand are sufficiently adequate to defeat most rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is frequently helpless. The past few years has seen the interesting rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless cover the court with the alarming quickness and grace of much shorter men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the other player was dictating, and hitting a soft shot versus him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite harsh limitation on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a several significant, improbable advancements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was approaching the top 10. The previous season, he suddenly exploded to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What was the commentator have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing drought of US male players winning grand slams when he had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

Taylor Fritz made a personal best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in the summer.

Fritz’s play in that very last eight match should have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian won in four sets, a victory that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with the American earning plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the streak to the brink of frustration. When Fritz finally did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately played a horrendous game to drop serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and forced him to use excessive energy to win it. Facing set points in the final game, Fritz’s primary delivery sailed to heaven. He prolonged the match twice on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, just a consequence of needing to hit too many second serves.

The match was fairly compelling proof that the American is not good enough to beat any form of Djokovic, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and did not especially seem like he thought he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has developed sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were expecting the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that indicated he could.

Fritz is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in media sessions, exceeding virtually everyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just say how he feels or the strategy he believed determined a contest, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America not spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Division

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably dwell on it forever if I fail to do it,” the American told an interviewer in June of claiming a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not fulfill that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is in fact extremely improbable for everybody else. {