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I have a few opinions about the remarks made by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's victory over the American player during the US Open last eight. Consider – the athlete represents American, the commentator is from the US – and sports often lend themselves to nationalism. Some disappointment would have been understandable. Rather, Fowler brought up the continued absence of US male players at the majors: not one of them has won a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the tournament.

We all enjoy a storyline, me too. But come on. Even if Fritz defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the following match, who Fritz has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard went on to thrash a tired Serbian in the subsequent match). He stated in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually liked his draw, because it presented the opportunity to beat the three best players in the world in succession. Fritz is more than within his right to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match what other person sensibly had the lack of US winners in mind?

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

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the global rankings entering this week’s year-end championships and has won his last six matches over No 3 the German with growing comfort. Presumably he might claim that position for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that is as far as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. His elite delivery and powerful power on each front side and backhand are sufficiently enough to defeat most opponents on the ATP tour. Against the select few generational talents, however, Fritz is often helpless. The last several seasons has seen the curious emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless move around with the alarming speed and grace of smaller players. Fritz is six-foot-five and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was controlling, and hitting a soft shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a pretty severe limitation on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a number of dramatic, unexpected improvements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the top 30. 24 months later, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly exploded to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, competing against and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and even a aging Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the ongoing slump of American men winning grand slams when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

The American star achieved a personal best run to the All England Club semi-finals in the summer.

The American's play in that exact last eight match should have been enough of an sign. The Serbian won in four sets, a win that only seemed tenuous for moments towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a few match points and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with the American creating plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the brink of agony. When Fritz finally did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a terrible game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and forced him to use excessive effort to win it. Down set points in the final game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to the sky. He prolonged the contest two times on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, just a result of needing to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The match was quite ironclad evidence that Fritz is not good enough to beat any form of the Serbian, that was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and never particularly seem like he believed he could triumph. This is perfectly fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired enough knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were expecting Fritz to prevail, and pressuring him to do so, when he was had not accomplished anything that indicated he would.

Fritz is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in media sessions, more so than almost anyone on the men's tour except for the Russian star, willing to not only say his emotions or the strategy he felt decided a match, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for America failing to spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can divide that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

American legend Group

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

Swedish icon Division

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I don’t accomplish it,” the American told an interviewer in the summer of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is actually extremely improbable for all other players. {