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I have some thoughts regarding that remarks delivered by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer after the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz during the US Open last eight. Consider – Fritz is American, the commentator is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. Some letdown would have been appropriate. Rather, he brought up the ongoing absence of American men at the majors: none of them had lifted a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the competition.

Everyone love a storyline, me too. But really. Even if Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, who he has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And had he someway gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz went on to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). He said in press after the loss that he in fact liked his draw, because it presented the opportunity to beat the three best competitors in the world back-to-back. Fritz is more than justified to aim for the achievement; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But entering that Djokovic last eight match what other person in their right mind had the drought of US winners on the brain?

The American star's weaker delivery the sole barrier between her and sustained success

The American, twenty-eight, is ranked fourth in the world starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he might take that spot for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that at present, that is as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite delivery and powerful strength on each forehand and backhand are sufficiently adequate to dispose of most rivals on the professional circuit. Against the select few generational talents, though, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The last several years has seen the interesting emergence of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless move around with the alarming quickness and grace of smaller men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the other player was dictating, and hitting a soft shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty severe limitation on his upside.

The American has made a number of significant, unexpected improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was sniffing the top 10. The previous season, he unexpectedly exploded up to No 4 – and held the spot. But the next leap, competing against and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and even a aging Djokovic, is the highest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing drought of US male players winning major titles when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the task too little.

The American star made a career-best advancement to the All England Club semi-finals in the summer.

The American's performance in that very last eight match should have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a win that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The pair looked evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz earning numerous chances to break. But the champion saved break point after break point, extending the streak to the point of agony. When Fritz finally did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a horrendous service game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and compelled him to use far too much effort to prevail. Down set points in the final game, his first serve sailed to heaven. He extended the contest twice on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, just a consequence of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite ironclad evidence that the American is not good enough to defeat any version of the Serbian, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the following match and did not especially seem like he believed he could win. This is perfectly fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his physical powers anymore, but has developed enough knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The problem is those who were anticipating the American to prevail, and pressuring him to do so, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in media sessions, more so than virtually anyone on the ATP except for the Russian star, prepared to not only say how he feels or the tactic he felt determined a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for America failing to spawn a male major champion since the last American titlist feels unjust. (Since Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

American legend Division

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Group

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably think about it forever if I fail to do it,” the American told an interviewer in the summer of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying empire is actually extremely unlikely for all other players. {