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I possess a few opinions regarding that remarks delivered by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer after the Serbian champion's win over the American player in the US Open last eight. Consider – the athlete represents American, Fowler is American – and sports frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment would have been understandable. Instead, he brought up the continued drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: none of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

Everyone love a storyline, me too. But really. Suppose Fritz had beaten the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, who Fritz has never defeated in an official match. And had he somehow 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 split the previous seven grand slams (and Alcaraz went on to defeat a tired Djokovic in the subsequent match). He stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact liked his draw, because it offered the chance to defeat the three best competitors in the sport in succession. He is well justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the drought of US winners in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier between her and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is ranked number four in the world entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that right now, that’s as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of ranking points away. Fritz’s elite serve and powerful power on each forehand and reverse side are more than enough to defeat the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. Against the handful of generational talents, though, Fritz is frequently helpless. The past few years has seen the interesting rise of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless cover the court with the alarming speed and grace of much shorter men. Fritz is six-foot-five and appears that way. His footwork is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was dictating, and hitting a drop shot against him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a quite severe restriction on his upside.

Fritz has made a number of dramatic, improbable advancements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the top 30. 24 months after, he was approaching the top 10. The previous season, he suddenly exploded to fourth place – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and even a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What could the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the ongoing slump of US male players winning major titles when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

The American star made a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon last four in July.

The American's performance in that very quarter-final should have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic won in four rounds, a victory that only felt tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a few championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz earning numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the run to the point of agony. When Fritz eventually did claim one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately produced a terrible service game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle secondary to the main contest and forced him to use excessive effort to prevail. Down match points in the final game, his first serve sailed to heaven. He prolonged the match two times on his second serve, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a collapse, I didn’t think, only a result of having to hit too many second serves.

The contest was fairly compelling proof that Fritz is not good enough to defeat any version of the Serbian, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the next round and never especially appeared like he thought he could win. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has acquired sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not done anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in press conferences, more so than almost anyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just say his emotions or the tactic he believed determined a contest, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for the United States not spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can share that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I fail to do it,” the American told a journalist in the summer of claiming a major. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not fulfill that objective, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is actually extremely unlikely for all other players. {