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I possess a few opinions regarding that remarks delivered by ESPN broadcaster a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's win over the American player during the US Open last eight. Look – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of disappointment would have been understandable. Instead, Fowler brought up the ongoing drought of US male players at the majors: not one of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone love a storyline, myself included. But come on. Even if the American had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, whom Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). Fritz said in press following his defeat that he in fact liked his draw, because it offered the chance to defeat the top three competitors in the world back-to-back. He is more than within his right to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But entering that Djokovic quarter-final who else sensibly had the drought of American champions in mind?

The American star's second serve the sole barrier between her and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is placed number four in the global rankings starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he might take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that is as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of ranking points away. Fritz’s elite serve and powerful power on both front side and backhand are sufficiently enough to defeat most rivals on the professional circuit. Against the select few generational talents, though, he is often helpless. The past few years has witnessed the curious emergence of tall, gangly players who can nevertheless move around with the surprising quickness and grace of much shorter players. He 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 win a rally that the opponent was dictating, and hitting a drop shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite severe restriction on his potential.

The American has made a number of significant, unexpected improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he suddenly surged to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, competing against and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What could the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing slump of American men lifting grand slams when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply too much and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge insufficient.

Taylor Fritz achieved a career-best advancement to the All England Club last four in the summer.

The American's performance in that exact quarter-final ought to have been enough of an indication. Djokovic won in four rounds, a victory that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz earning plenty of opportunities to break. But the champion rescued break point after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the point of frustration. When he finally did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately produced a terrible service game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the real battle and compelled him to expend far too much effort to prevail. Facing match points in the final game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to heaven. He extended the contest two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, just a result of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was quite ironclad evidence that the American is not good enough to beat any form of the Serbian, that lost to Alcaraz in the next round and never especially seem like he thought he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the best player ever, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is the individuals who were expecting Fritz to win, and pressuring him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in press conferences, exceeding virtually everyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just say his emotions or the tactic he felt decided a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the responsibility for the United States not produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unjust. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can divide that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

• The Spanish phenom
• 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’d probably dwell on it forever if I don’t accomplish it,” Fritz informed a journalist in June of winning a major. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he does not achieve that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is actually highly unlikely for everybody else. {