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I have a few opinions regarding the comments made by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's victory over the American player during the New York major quarter-finals. Consider – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is from the US – and sports often lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of disappointment would have been appropriate. Instead, he invoked the continued drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: none of them had lifted a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone love a storyline, me too. But really. Suppose the American had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, whom he has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And had he someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom the American had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the last seven grand slams (and Alcaraz went on to thrash a tired Serbian in the subsequent match). He said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact liked his path, because it offered the chance to defeat the three best competitors in the sport in succession. He is well within his right to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is meant to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian last eight match who else sensibly had the drought of US winners in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the only thing between her and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is ranked number four in the world entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that’s as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class serve and concussive power on each forehand and backhand are sufficiently enough to defeat most rivals on the professional circuit. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is frequently helpless. The past few years has seen the curious emergence of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless move around with the alarming speed and fluidity of much shorter players. He is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the other player was controlling, and playing a soft shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a pretty severe limitation on his potential.

The American has made a several dramatic, improbable improvements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the top 30. Two years after, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly exploded to fourth place – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and even a aging Serbian, is the toughest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the ongoing drought of US male players lifting major titles when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the appreciation for the magnitude of the challenge insufficient.

The American star achieved a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

The American's play in that exact quarter-final ought to have been enough of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a win that only felt tenuous for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz creating numerous opportunities to break. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after break point, extending the run to the point of frustration. When Fritz finally did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a horrendous service game to drop serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and forced him to use far too much effort to win it. Down match points in the final game, Fritz’s primary delivery sailed to heaven. He prolonged the contest two times on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, just a result of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly ironclad evidence that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of Djokovic, that lost to Alcaraz in the next round and never particularly seem like he believed he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has developed sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is those who were expecting the American to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not accomplished anything that indicated he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective presence in media sessions, exceeding virtually everyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just express how he feels or the tactic he believed determined a match, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for America not spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely think about it forever if I don’t do it,” Fritz told an interviewer in the summer of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not fulfill that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is in fact highly improbable for everybody else. {