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I have some thoughts regarding the comments made by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player during the US Open last eight. Consider – the athlete represents American, the commentator is American – and sports often encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown would have been understandable. Rather, he invoked the ongoing drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them had lifted a title since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone enjoy a storyline, myself included. But really. Even if the American defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, who Fritz has yet to beat in an official match. And had he someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven major titles (plus Alcaraz went on to thrash a tired Djokovic in the next round). He stated in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually preferred his path, because it offered the chance to beat the top three players in the sport in succession. Fritz is more than within his right to aim for the achievement; an competitor is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final what other person sensibly had the drought of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing between her and sustained success

The American, twenty-eight, is ranked fourth in the world entering the upcoming year-end championships and has won his last six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that’s as far as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of performance metrics away. His top-class serve and powerful strength on both front side and backhand are more than adequate to defeat most rivals on the professional circuit. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is often overmatched. The last several seasons has seen the interesting rise of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless move around with the surprising speed and grace of much shorter men. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a drop shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty harsh limitation on his upside.

Fritz has made a several dramatic, unexpected improvements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly exploded to fourth place – and maintained the position. But the next leap, competing against and beating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and even a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What could Fowler thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing drought of US male players lifting grand slams when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the appreciation for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

Taylor Fritz achieved a career-best run to the Wimbledon semi-finals in the summer.

Fritz’s performance in that exact last eight match should have been enough of an sign. The Serbian won in four rounds, a win that only felt tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had saved a few match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with the American creating numerous chances to break. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the point of frustration. When Fritz eventually did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a terrible game to drop serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and compelled him to expend far too much effort to prevail. Down match points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery sailed to heaven. He extended the contest twice on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, just a result of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite compelling proof that the American is not good enough to beat any form of the Serbian, that was defeated by the Spaniard in the following match and never especially appeared like he believed he could win. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height 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 those who were anticipating Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he could.

The American is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in media sessions, exceeding virtually anyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just say his emotions or the tactic he believed determined a contest, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for America not spawn a male major champion since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I don’t accomplish it,” Fritz told a journalist in June of winning a major. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is in fact highly unlikely for everybody else. {