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I possess a few opinions regarding the comments made by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer after the Serbian champion's win over the American player during the New York major last eight. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is American – and sports often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment was appropriate. Rather, Fowler invoked the ongoing absence of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone love a narrative, me too. But really. Suppose Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the next round, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the last seven major titles (and Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a tired Djokovic in the next round). Fritz said in press after the loss that he actually preferred his draw, because it presented the chance to defeat the three best competitors in the world in succession. He is well within his right to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is supposed to have faith in themselves. But entering that Djokovic last eight match who else sensibly had the lack of US winners in mind?

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

The American, 28, is placed number four in the global rankings starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his previous six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. Presumably he could 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 sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. His elite delivery and powerful power on both front side and reverse side are more than adequate to defeat the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. Against the handful of generational talents, however, he is frequently helpless. The last several seasons has seen the interesting emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless move around with the surprising speed and fluidity of smaller players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a soft shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a quite harsh restriction on his potential.

Fritz has made a number of significant, unexpected improvements over the years. Early on of the ten-year period, he was circling the lower end of the top 30. Two years later, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded to fourth place – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing slump of American men lifting grand slams when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just too much and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

Taylor Fritz made a personal best advancement to the Wimbledon last four in the summer.

The American's play in that exact quarter-final ought to have been enough of an sign. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a win that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had survived a couple match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the rallies, with the American earning plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued break point after service break opportunity, extending the streak to the point of agony. When he eventually did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately produced a terrible service game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and compelled him to expend excessive effort to win it. Down set points in the last game, his first serve sailed to the sky. He extended the match two times on his second serve, but finally committed two errors. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, just a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was fairly ironclad evidence that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of Djokovic, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and never especially seem like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the best player ever, and might not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has developed sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The problem is those who were expecting Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he would.

The American is an valuable contributor to the tour regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in press conferences, more so than virtually everyone on the ATP aside from the Russian star, willing to not only say how he feels or the strategy he felt decided a match, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for America not spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

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

Swedish icon Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” Fritz told an interviewer in June of winning a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable empire is actually extremely improbable for all other players. {