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I possess some opinions regarding that comments delivered by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's victory over the American player during the US Open last eight. Look – Fritz is American, the commentator is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown was understandable. Rather, he invoked the continued drought of US male players at the majors: not one of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the competition.

Everyone enjoy a storyline, me too. But come on. Even if Fritz defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the following match, who Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven major titles (and the Spaniard went on to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the next round). He said in press after the loss that he in fact preferred his draw, because it presented the opportunity to beat the three best competitors in the world back-to-back. He is more than within his right to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But entering that Djokovic quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the drought of US winners on the brain?

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

The American, twenty-eight, is placed fourth in the global rankings starting the upcoming year-end championships and has secured his previous six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that right now, that is as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. His elite serve and concussive strength on both forehand and reverse side are more than enough to dispose of the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. Against the handful of generational talents, however, Fritz is often helpless. The past few seasons has seen the interesting emergence of tall, gangly players who can nevertheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and fluidity of much shorter players. He is six-foot-five and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the other player was dictating, and playing a soft shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty harsh restriction on his potential.

The American has made a several significant, improbable advancements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. 24 months later, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly surged to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a aging Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing drought of US male players lifting grand slams when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply too much and the respect for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

The American star achieved a personal best run to the All England Club last four in the summer.

Fritz’s play in that very quarter-final should have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian won in four rounds, a victory that only felt tenuous for moments towards the conclusion, when the American had survived a few match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz earning plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the run to the point of agony. When Fritz eventually did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a terrible service game to lose his own serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and forced him to expend excessive energy to prevail. Facing set points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve floated to the sky. He prolonged the contest twice on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, only a result of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite compelling evidence that the American is not good enough to defeat any version of Djokovic, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and never particularly seem like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities anymore, but has developed sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the decline. The problem is the individuals who were expecting the American to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not accomplished anything that indicated he would.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in press conferences, more so than almost everyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just say how he feels or the strategy he believed determined a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America not produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Since Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I fail to do it,” Fritz told a journalist in the summer of claiming a major. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is in fact highly improbable for all other players. {