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I have a few thoughts regarding that remarks made by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's win over the American player during the US Open last eight. Consider – Fritz is American, the commentator is from the US – and sports frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some letdown would have been understandable. Instead, he brought up the continued drought of US male players at the majors: none of them had lifted a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all enjoy a storyline, me too. But really. Suppose the American defeated the legend for the first time, force of nature the Spanish star was waiting in the next round, whom he has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven major titles (plus the Spaniard proceeded to defeat a fatigued Djokovic in the next round). He said in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually liked his path, because it presented the opportunity to beat the three best players in the sport 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 Djokovic last eight match who else sensibly had the drought of American champions in mind?

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

Fritz, 28, is ranked fourth in the world starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six encounters over third-ranked the German with growing comfort. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that is as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a chasm of performance metrics away. His elite delivery and powerful strength on both forehand 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, Fritz is frequently helpless. The past few seasons has witnessed the interesting rise of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless move around with the surprising speed and grace of much shorter players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and playing a soft shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That acts as a pretty severe limitation on his upside.

Fritz has made a several dramatic, improbable improvements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly exploded to fourth place – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a aging Serbian, is the toughest of all. What could the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing drought of American men lifting major titles when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the task insufficient.

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

The American's performance in that very quarter-final should have been enough of an indication. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a win that only felt uncertain for moments towards the very end, when Fritz had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz earning numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved break point after break point, extending the run to the point of agony. When Fritz eventually did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a horrendous service game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and forced him to expend excessive energy to win it. Down set points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to heaven. He extended the contest two times on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, only a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was fairly ironclad proof that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of the Serbian, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the next round and did not particularly seem like he thought he could triumph. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to prevail, and pressuring him to do so, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in press conferences, more so than almost everyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just express how he feels or the strategy he felt decided a match, but clarify it. That he should bear the brunt of the blame for the United States not spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Division

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

Swedish icon Group

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

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I don’t do it,” Fritz told an interviewer in June of claiming a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not fulfill that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is in fact extremely unlikely for all other players. {