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I have some opinions about that comments made by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz during the US Open last eight. Look – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is from the US – and athletic competitions often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown would have been understandable. Rather, he brought up the continued absence of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone love a narrative, me too. But come on. Suppose Fritz defeated Djokovic for the first time, force of nature the Spanish star was waiting in the following match, who he has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the previous seven grand slams (and the Spaniard went on to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). Fritz stated in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually liked his draw, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the three best competitors in the world back-to-back. Fritz is more than justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an competitor is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final who else sensibly had the lack of US winners on the brain?

The American star's weaker delivery the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

The American, 28, is placed fourth in the global rankings starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as far as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class serve and powerful power on both forehand and reverse side are more than enough to dispose of the majority of rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is often overmatched. The past few years has seen the interesting rise of tall, gangly players who can nevertheless move around with the surprising speed and fluidity of smaller men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was dictating, and playing a drop shot versus him is usually a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite harsh restriction on his upside.

The American has achieved a number of dramatic, improbable improvements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the bottom of the top 30. 24 months later, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly exploded to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, competing against and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a aging Djokovic, is the highest of all. What could the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the ongoing drought of US male players winning major titles when Fritz had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply too much and the appreciation for the magnitude of the task too little.

Taylor Fritz achieved a personal best advancement to the Wimbledon last four in the summer.

Fritz’s performance in that exact quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an indication. The Serbian won in four sets, a win that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz creating numerous chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved service break opportunity after break point, extending the run to the brink of frustration. When Fritz finally did claim one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a terrible service game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and compelled him to expend excessive effort to win it. Facing set points in the final game, his primary delivery sailed to the sky. He prolonged the match twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, only a result of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was quite compelling evidence that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of the Serbian, who lost to the Spaniard in the next round and did not particularly seem like he believed he could triumph. This is perfectly fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his physical powers anymore, but has acquired enough experience and tactical know-how to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The issue is the individuals who were anticipating the American to prevail, and pressuring him to do so, when he was had not done anything that suggested he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in press conferences, more so than almost anyone on the men's tour except for the Russian star, willing to not just express his emotions or the strategy he believed determined a contest, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for America failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Division

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely think about it forever if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in the summer of claiming 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 dominant, formidable reign is in fact highly unlikely for all other players. {