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I have some opinions about that remarks made by ESPN broadcaster Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's win over the American player during the New York major last eight. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is from the US – and sports often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment was understandable. Instead, Fowler invoked the continued drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: none of them had lifted a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all enjoy a storyline, myself included. But really. Suppose the American had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was looming in the following match, who Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And had he someway survived that, it would have been title holder the Italian, versus him the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the last seven major titles (and Alcaraz went on to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the next round). He said in press following his defeat that he in fact preferred his draw, because it presented the chance to defeat the three best players in the world in succession. He is well within his right to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final what other person sensibly had the drought of American champions in mind?

The American star's second serve the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is ranked fourth in the global rankings starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six encounters over third-ranked the German with growing comfort. It's likely he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that is as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class serve and powerful strength on each front side and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to defeat the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. Against the handful of generational talents, however, he is often overmatched. The past few seasons has seen the curious emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless move around with the surprising quickness and fluidity of much shorter men. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the other player was dictating, and playing a drop shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite harsh limitation on his potential.

Fritz has made a several significant, unexpected advancements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the top 30. 24 months after, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he suddenly surged to No 4 – and held the spot. But the next leap, competing against and beating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What could the commentator 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 grand slams when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just too much and the appreciation for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

Taylor Fritz made a career-best run to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

Fritz’s performance in that exact quarter-final should have been sufficient of an indication. The Serbian won in four rounds, a win that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a few championship opportunities and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the rallies, with the American creating numerous opportunities to break. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the brink of agony. When Fritz eventually did claim a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a terrible game to drop serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and forced him to expend excessive energy to win it. Facing match points in the final game, his primary delivery sailed to the sky. He prolonged the contest two times on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, only a result of needing to hit too many second serves.

The match was quite ironclad evidence that the American is not good enough to defeat any form of Djokovic, who lost to the Spaniard in the next round and did not particularly seem like he thought he could triumph. This is perfectly fine – the Serbian is the best player ever, and might not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has acquired enough experience and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is those who were expecting Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in press conferences, exceeding almost everyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just express how he feels or the strategy he felt determined a match, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for the United States not produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can share that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I don’t accomplish it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in June of winning a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying empire is in fact extremely improbable for all other players. {