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I have some opinions regarding that remarks delivered by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz in the US Open last eight. Consider – the athlete represents American, the commentator is from the US – and sports often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment was appropriate. Rather, he invoked the ongoing absence of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone love a narrative, me too. But really. Suppose Fritz defeated the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, whom he has yet to beat in an official match. And had he someway gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven major titles (and the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). Fritz said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually preferred his path, because it offered the chance to beat the top three competitors in the world in succession. Fritz is more than justified to aim for the achievement; an competitor is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final who else sensibly had the drought of American champions on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the sole barrier between her and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is ranked fourth in the world starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six encounters over No 3 the German with growing comfort. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that is as far as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s elite serve and concussive power on both front side and backhand are more than adequate to defeat most rivals on the ATP tour. Against the handful of generational talents, though, he is often overmatched. The past few seasons has witnessed the curious rise of tall, gangly players who can nevertheless move around with the surprising quickness and grace of much shorter men. Fritz is six-foot-five and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was controlling, and playing a drop shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty harsh limitation on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a several dramatic, unexpected improvements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. 24 months after, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he suddenly surged to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, competing against and beating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What could the commentator have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing slump of American men lifting major titles when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

The American star made a career-best run to the Wimbledon semi-finals in the summer.

The American's performance in that exact quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a victory that only seemed tenuous for moments towards the conclusion, when the American had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American creating plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after break point, extending the streak to the point of agony. When he finally did claim a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a horrendous game to lose his own serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and forced him to expend far too much energy to win it. Down match points in the final game, his primary delivery floated to the sky. He extended the contest two times on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, just a result of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly compelling evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any version of Djokovic, who lost to Alcaraz in the next round and did not especially seem like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has developed sufficient experience and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is the individuals who were anticipating the American to win, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that indicated he could.

Fritz is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in press conferences, more so than almost everyone on the ATP except for the Russian star, prepared to not only express his emotions or the tactic he believed determined a match, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Since the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can share that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Division

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

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I fail to accomplish it,” the American informed a journalist in June of claiming a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not achieve that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is in fact highly improbable for all other players. {