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I possess a few thoughts about the comments delivered by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer after the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz during the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents American, the commentator is American – and athletic competitions frequently encourage nationalism. Some letdown would have been understandable. Instead, Fowler invoked the continued drought of US male players at the majors: none of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone enjoy a narrative, myself included. But really. Suppose the American had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the following match, who he has yet to beat in an official match. And had he somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the previous seven major titles (and the Spaniard went on to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the next round). He said in press after the loss that he in fact preferred his draw, because it presented the chance to defeat the top three players in the world back-to-back. He is well justified to aim for the achievement; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match who else sensibly had the drought of US winners on the brain?

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

Fritz, twenty-eight, is ranked number four in the global rankings entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. Presumably he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that is as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of ranking points away. His top-class serve and powerful strength on each front side and backhand are sufficiently adequate to dispose of the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is often helpless. The past few seasons has seen the interesting emergence of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and fluidity of smaller players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the other player was dictating, and hitting a drop shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a pretty severe limitation on his potential.

The American has made a number of dramatic, unexpected improvements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the top 30. Two years after, he was approaching the top 10. The previous season, he suddenly exploded up to No 4 – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a aging Djokovic, is the highest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing slump of US male players winning major titles when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply too much and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

Taylor Fritz achieved a personal best run to the Wimbledon last four in the summer.

The American's performance in that very last eight match ought to have been enough of an sign. The Serbian won in four rounds, a victory that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had survived a couple match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz earning numerous opportunities to break. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the brink of agony. When Fritz finally did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately produced a horrendous 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 excessive effort to win it. Facing match points in the last game, his first serve sailed to the sky. He prolonged the contest twice on his second serve, but finally committed two errors. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, just a consequence of having to hit too many second serves.

The contest was quite compelling proof that the American is not good enough to beat any form of Djokovic, who lost to Alcaraz in the next round and did not especially appeared like he thought he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – the Serbian is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The issue is those who were anticipating Fritz to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that indicated he would.

Fritz is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in press conferences, exceeding virtually everyone on the ATP aside from the Russian star, prepared to not just say his emotions or the strategy he believed decided a match, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for the United States not produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unjust. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that load.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Group

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

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz informed a journalist in the summer of claiming a major. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not achieve that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is in fact highly unlikely for everybody else. {