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I possess some thoughts about that remarks delivered by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's win over the American player in the US Open last eight. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is American – and athletic competitions frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment would have been understandable. Instead, he brought up the ongoing absence of American men at the majors: none of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the competition.

Everyone love a storyline, me too. But really. Suppose the American defeated the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an official match. And had he somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, versus him Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven major titles (plus the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the next round). Fritz stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually preferred his draw, because it presented the opportunity to beat the top three players in the sport in succession. Fritz is more than justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an competitor is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the drought of US winners in mind?

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

Fritz, 28, is ranked fourth in the global rankings entering this week’s year-end championships and has won his last six matches over third-ranked the German with increasing ease. Presumably he might take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that’s as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard sit a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite delivery and concussive power on both forehand and backhand are more than enough to defeat most opponents on the ATP tour. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is frequently helpless. The past few years has seen the curious emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless move around with the alarming speed and fluidity of much shorter men. Fritz is six-foot-five and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was dictating, and hitting a drop shot versus him is usually a reliable tactic. That acts as a pretty harsh limitation on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a number of dramatic, improbable advancements throughout his career. Early on of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was sniffing the top 10. The previous season, he suddenly surged up to No 4 – and held the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a aging Djokovic, is the highest of all. What was the commentator have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing slump of American men lifting grand slams when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge insufficient.

Taylor Fritz made a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon last four in July.

Fritz’s play in that exact quarter-final should have been enough of an indication. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a win that only felt tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had saved a few match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz earning numerous chances to break. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the run to the brink of agony. When he finally did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a horrendous game to lose his own serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the real battle and forced him to use excessive energy to prevail. Down match points in the final game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to the sky. He extended the contest two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, just a result of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was quite compelling evidence that the American is not good enough to beat any form of the Serbian, that lost to Alcaraz in the next round and did not particularly appeared like he believed he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has developed enough experience and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is those who were expecting the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not done anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a patient, reflective voice in press conferences, more so than almost anyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only say how he feels or the tactic he felt determined a match, but clarify it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States failing to produce a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

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

Bjorn Borg Group

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I don’t do it,” Fritz informed a journalist in June of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he does not fulfill that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is in fact highly unlikely for all other players. {