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I possess some thoughts about the comments delivered by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's victory over the American player during the US Open last eight. Look – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is from the US – and sports often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment was appropriate. Rather, he brought up the ongoing absence of American men at the majors: none of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the competition.

Everyone love a narrative, myself included. But really. Even if the American had beaten Djokovic for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, whom Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he somehow survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous 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 presented the chance to defeat the three best players in the sport back-to-back. He is well justified to aim for the accomplishment; an competitor is supposed to believe in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final what other person sensibly had the drought of US winners in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier between her and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is ranked fourth in the world starting this week’s year-end championships and has secured his last six encounters over third-ranked the German with increasing ease. Presumably he might take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that’s as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. His elite serve and powerful strength on each forehand and backhand are more than enough to dispose of the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The last several seasons has seen the curious emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and grace of much shorter men. He is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom win a rally that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a drop shot against him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a pretty severe restriction on his potential.

The American has achieved a number of dramatic, unexpected advancements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the top 30. Two years later, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded up to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a aging Djokovic, 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 mentioning the continuing drought of American men lifting major titles when Fritz had exited the US Open 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.

Fritz’s play in that exact quarter-final should have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic won in four rounds, a win that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a few match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair looked evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz creating plenty of opportunities to break. But Djokovic rescued break point after service break opportunity, extending the streak to the brink of agony. When Fritz finally did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a horrendous service game to drop serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and forced him to expend excessive effort to win it. Down set points in the final game, his primary delivery sailed to heaven. He prolonged the contest twice on his second serve, but finally committed two errors. It was not a collapse, I didn’t think, just a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly ironclad evidence that Fritz is not good enough to beat any version of Djokovic, who lost to the Spaniard in the next round and did not especially appeared like he thought he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has developed sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The problem is those who were anticipating Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not accomplished anything that indicated he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective presence in media sessions, more so than virtually everyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just say how he feels or the strategy he felt determined a match, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for America failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Division

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I don’t accomplish it,” the American told a journalist in the summer of winning a grand slam. It is hoped he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not achieve that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is in fact highly improbable for all other players. {