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I have a few thoughts about that comments made by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's win over the American player during the US Open last eight. Look – Fritz is American, Fowler is American – and sports often lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of letdown would have been appropriate. Instead, he invoked the continued absence of American men at the majors: not one of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

We all love a narrative, myself included. But come on. Suppose Fritz had beaten the legend for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, whom Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a tired Serbian in the next round). Fritz stated in press after the loss that he actually liked his draw, because it presented the opportunity to beat the top three competitors in the world back-to-back. Fritz is well justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final who else in their right mind had the lack of US winners in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

The American, 28, is ranked number four in the global rankings starting the upcoming year-end championships and has won his previous six encounters over third-ranked the German with increasing ease. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that right now, that’s as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite delivery and concussive power on each front side and backhand are sufficiently adequate to dispose of the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. Against the handful of generational talents, though, he is often helpless. The last several years has witnessed the curious rise of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless cover the court with the alarming speed and fluidity of smaller men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and playing a soft shot against him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a pretty harsh limitation on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a number of dramatic, improbable improvements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the top 30. 24 months later, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly exploded to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a declining Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing drought of American men winning grand slams when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply too much and the respect for the magnitude of the task too little.

Taylor Fritz made a personal best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

The American's performance in that very last eight match ought to have been enough of an indication. The Serbian won in four rounds, a win that only felt tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had survived a couple match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American earning plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved break point after service break opportunity, extending the run to the brink of agony. When Fritz finally did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately produced a terrible service game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and forced him to use excessive energy to win it. Facing match points in the last game, his first serve floated to heaven. He prolonged the contest two times on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It was not a collapse, I didn’t think, only a result of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly compelling evidence that Fritz is not good enough to defeat any version of Djokovic, who lost to Alcaraz in the following match and never especially appeared like he thought he could win. This is perfectly fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities now, but has developed enough knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is those who were expecting the American to prevail, and pressuring him to do so, when he was had not done anything that indicated he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in press conferences, exceeding virtually anyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only express how he feels or the strategy he felt decided a contest, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for America failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Division

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” Fritz informed a journalist in the summer of winning a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is actually extremely improbable for everybody else. {