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I have some opinions regarding that remarks delivered by ESPN broadcaster a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz in the New York major quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently encourage nationalism. Some disappointment would have been appropriate. Rather, he invoked the continued drought of American men at the majors: none of them had lifted a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone enjoy a narrative, me too. But really. Even if the American defeated the legend for the first time, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the following match, whom Fritz has never defeated in an official match. And had he someway survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven grand slams (and the Spaniard went on to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the next round). He stated in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually preferred his path, because it presented the opportunity to beat the three best competitors in the world back-to-back. Fritz is well justified to aim for the achievement; an competitor is meant to believe in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final who else sensibly had the drought of US winners in mind?

The American star's weaker delivery the only thing between her and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is ranked number four in the world entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six encounters over third-ranked the German with growing comfort. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that is as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and concussive power on each front side and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to defeat the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. Against the select few generational talents, however, he is often overmatched. The last several seasons has witnessed the curious emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless move around with the alarming quickness and grace 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 limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was controlling, and playing a soft shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a quite severe restriction on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a number of significant, improbable advancements throughout his career. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly surged to No 4 – and held the position. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and even 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 US male players lifting major titles when Fritz had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply too much and the respect for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

Taylor Fritz made a career-best advancement to the All England Club semi-finals in July.

Fritz’s performance in that very quarter-final should have been enough of an indication. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a win that only felt uncertain for moments towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz creating numerous opportunities to break. But the champion saved service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the streak to the brink of frustration. When he finally did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a horrendous game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a battle secondary to the real battle and compelled him to expend excessive effort to win it. Facing match points in the final game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to heaven. He extended the match twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, only a consequence of needing to hit too many second serves.

The match was fairly ironclad proof that the American is not good enough to defeat any version of Djokovic, who lost to the Spaniard in the next round and never particularly seem like he believed he could triumph. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is those who were expecting Fritz to prevail, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not done anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in media sessions, exceeding almost anyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just say his emotions or the tactic he felt determined a contest, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the blame for the United States not spawn a male major champion since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can divide that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably think about it forever if I fail to do it,” the American told a journalist in June of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is actually highly improbable for everybody else. {