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I have a few opinions about that comments delivered by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz in the US Open quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is American, the commentator is American – and sports often lend themselves to nationalism. Some disappointment was appropriate. Rather, Fowler invoked the ongoing absence of American men at grand slam tournaments: none of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the competition.

Everyone love a storyline, myself included. But come on. Suppose the American had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was waiting in the next round, whom Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the last seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz went on to thrash a tired Serbian in the next round). Fritz said in press following his defeat that he in fact liked his draw, because it presented the chance to defeat the three best competitors in the sport back-to-back. He is well within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final who else sensibly had the lack of American champions in mind?

The American star's second serve the sole barrier between her and consistent victories

Fritz, 28, is placed number four in the world entering this week’s year-end championships and has won his last six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that at present, that is as far as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class serve and concussive power on each forehand and reverse side are more than adequate to dispose of the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. When facing the select few generational talents, however, Fritz is frequently helpless. The past few years has witnessed the interesting emergence of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless move around with the surprising speed and fluidity of smaller players. Fritz is six-foot-five and appears that way. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the opponent was dictating, and playing a soft shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty harsh limitation on his upside.

The American has made a several dramatic, unexpected advancements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was approaching the top 10. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged to fourth place – and held the position. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a declining 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 continuing drought of American men winning major titles when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

The American star made a career-best run to the All England Club semi-finals in July.

The American's performance in that very last eight match should have been enough of an indication. Djokovic won in four sets, a win that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had survived a couple match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the rallies, with the American creating numerous chances to break. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after break point, extending the streak to the brink of agony. When he eventually did claim one 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 secondary to the main contest and compelled him to use excessive effort to win it. Down match points in the final game, his first serve floated to heaven. He prolonged the match two times on his second serve, but finally committed two errors. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, only a result of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite compelling evidence that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of Djokovic, that lost to Alcaraz in the next round and never especially appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – the Serbian is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were expecting the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a patient, reflective presence in press conferences, more so than almost everyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just say his emotions or the strategy he believed determined a match, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for the United States failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Since the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• 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 claiming a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he does not achieve that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is in fact highly unlikely for everybody else. {