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I possess some opinions about that comments delivered by ESPN broadcaster a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player in the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – Fritz is American, Fowler is from the US – and sports often encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown would have been appropriate. Instead, he invoked the ongoing drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

We all enjoy a narrative, myself included. But come on. Even if the American defeated the legend for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, whom he has yet to beat in an official match. And had he somehow gotten past that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom the American had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven major titles (and the Spaniard proceeded to defeat a tired Djokovic in the next round). Fritz stated in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually liked his path, because it offered the chance to defeat the top three competitors in the world in succession. Fritz is well within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final who else in their right mind had the drought of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing standing in her way and consistent victories

The American, twenty-eight, is placed fourth in the world starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. Presumably he might take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that right now, that is as far as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of ranking points away. His elite serve and powerful power on each forehand and reverse side are more than adequate to defeat the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. When facing the select few generational talents, however, Fritz is frequently helpless. The last several years has seen the interesting rise of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless move around with the alarming quickness and fluidity of smaller players. He is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the opponent was controlling, and playing a drop shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a pretty severe limitation on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a number of significant, improbable improvements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. Two years later, he was approaching the top 10. The previous season, he unexpectedly exploded to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the next leap, competing against and beating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What was Fowler thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing slump of US male players winning major titles when he had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply too much and the respect for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

The American star made a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon last four in July.

The American's play in that very last eight match should have been enough of an indication. The Serbian won in four rounds, a win that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had survived a few match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz earning numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved service break opportunity after break point, extending the streak to the brink of frustration. When he finally did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a terrible game to drop serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and compelled him to use far too much effort to win it. Down match points in the final game, his primary delivery floated to the sky. He prolonged the match twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, just a consequence of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly compelling proof that Fritz is not good enough to defeat any form of the Serbian, who lost to the Spaniard in the next round and did not especially appeared like he thought he could win. This is perfectly fine – the Serbian is the best player ever, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has developed sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The issue is the individuals who were expecting Fritz to win, and pressuring him to do so, when he was yet to accomplished anything that indicated he would.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in media sessions, more so than virtually anyone on the men's tour aside from the Russian star, prepared to not just say his emotions or the strategy he felt decided a match, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States not produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Division

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

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I fail to do it,” Fritz told a journalist in June of claiming a major. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is in fact highly unlikely for everybody else. {