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I have some thoughts about that comments made by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's victory over the American player in the US Open last eight. Look – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is American – and sports often encourage nationalism. A little bit of letdown was understandable. Instead, he brought up the ongoing absence of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the competition.

Everyone love a narrative, me too. But come on. Even if Fritz had beaten the legend for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, whom he has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been title holder the Italian, versus him Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the previous seven major titles (plus the Spaniard went on to defeat a tired Serbian in the next round). He said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually preferred his draw, because it presented the opportunity to beat the three best players in the sport back-to-back. He is more than within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But entering that Serbian last eight match what other person sensibly had the lack of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is ranked number four in the global rankings starting the upcoming year-end championships and has won his previous six matches over No 3 the German with growing comfort. It's likely he might take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that’s as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class serve and concussive power on both front side and backhand are more than adequate to dispose of most opponents on the professional circuit. Against the select few generational talents, however, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The last several years has witnessed the curious emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless move around with the surprising speed and fluidity of smaller men. Fritz is six-foot-five and appears that way. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was controlling, and playing a soft shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite harsh restriction on his potential.

Fritz has made a several dramatic, unexpected advancements throughout his career. Early on of the ten-year period, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he suddenly surged to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and even a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What could Fowler thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing slump of US male players winning major titles when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the appreciation for the magnitude of the challenge insufficient.

The American star achieved a personal best run to the All England Club last four in July.

The American's play in that very quarter-final should have been enough of an indication. Djokovic won in four sets, a victory that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had saved a couple match points and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American earning plenty of chances to break. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the run to the point of frustration. When Fritz finally did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a horrendous game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle secondary to the main contest and forced him to use far too much effort to win it. Down set points in the last game, his primary delivery sailed to the sky. He prolonged the contest twice on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, just a result of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was fairly ironclad evidence that Fritz is not good enough to beat any version of Djokovic, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the next round and never particularly seem like he thought he could win. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has acquired enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is those who were expecting Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in press conferences, more so than almost everyone on the ATP aside from the Russian star, prepared to not only express how he feels or the tactic he believed determined a contest, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for America failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can divide that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Group

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

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I don’t accomplish it,” the American told a journalist in the summer of winning a major. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is actually extremely improbable for all other players. {