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I possess some opinions regarding that remarks delivered by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer after the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz during the New York major last eight. Look – Fritz is American, the commentator is from the US – and sports frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown was understandable. Instead, he brought up the ongoing absence of American men at the majors: not one of them had lifted a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone love a narrative, myself included. But come on. Even if Fritz defeated the legend for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the next round, who he has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven major titles (plus Alcaraz went on to thrash a tired Serbian in the next round). Fritz stated in press after the loss that he in fact liked his path, because it offered the chance to beat the three best players in the world in succession. He is well within his right to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the drought of US winners in mind?

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

Fritz, 28, is ranked number four in the global rankings entering the upcoming year-end championships and has won his previous six matches over No 3 the German with increasing ease. Presumably he might take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that’s as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. His elite serve and powerful power on both forehand and backhand are more than adequate to defeat most opponents on the ATP tour. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is often overmatched. The last several seasons has witnessed the interesting emergence of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless cover the court with the surprising speed and fluidity of much shorter men. He is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he’ll rarely 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 pretty harsh limitation on his potential.

Fritz has made a several significant, unexpected advancements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly surged to No 4 – and held the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a aging Djokovic, is the highest of all. What could the commentator have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing drought of American men lifting grand slams when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just too much and the respect for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

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

The American's play in that very last eight match ought to have been enough of an indication. The Serbian triumphed in four sets, a win that only felt tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had saved a few championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American creating numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued break point after break point, prolonging the run to the point of frustration. When he finally did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a terrible game to drop serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and forced him to expend far too much energy to prevail. Facing set points in the final game, his primary delivery sailed to the sky. He extended the contest two times on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It was not a collapse, I didn’t think, just a result of having to hit too many second serves.

The contest was quite compelling evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any version of the Serbian, that lost to the Spaniard in the next round and did not especially appeared like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has developed enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The issue is those who were expecting Fritz to win, and pressuring him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he would.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in media sessions, exceeding virtually anyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just say his emotions or the strategy he felt decided a contest, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for the United States not produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Group

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I don’t do it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in June of claiming a major. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not achieve that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying empire is actually highly improbable for everybody else. {