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I have some opinions regarding that comments delivered by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's win over the American player during the US Open last eight. Look – Fritz is American, the commentator is from the US – and sports often lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of disappointment was appropriate. Rather, he invoked the ongoing absence of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the competition.

We all enjoy a narrative, myself included. But really. Even if the American had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, who he has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven major titles (plus Alcaraz went on to thrash a tired Serbian in the next round). He said in press after the loss that he in fact preferred his path, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the top three competitors in the sport in succession. Fritz is more than justified to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final who else sensibly had the lack of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the sole barrier between her and consistent victories

Fritz, 28, is placed fourth in the global rankings entering the upcoming year-end championships and has secured his last six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he might take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that right now, that’s as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s elite serve and concussive strength on each forehand and reverse side are more than adequate to defeat most rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the select few generational talents, however, Fritz is often overmatched. The past few years has seen the curious rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless move around with the alarming quickness and grace of much shorter men. Fritz is six-foot-five and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was controlling, and hitting a drop shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a pretty harsh limitation on his potential.

The American has achieved a number of significant, improbable improvements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. Two years later, he was sniffing the top 10. The previous season, he suddenly surged to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the next leap, competing against and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the continuing drought of US male players lifting major titles when he had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the respect for the magnitude of the task too little.

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

The American's play in that exact last eight match ought to have been sufficient of an indication. The Serbian won in four rounds, a victory that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a few match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the rallies, with the American earning numerous chances to break. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the brink of frustration. When Fritz eventually did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a horrendous service game to lose his own serve again; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and forced him to use far too much energy to win it. Facing match points in the last game, his first serve sailed to the sky. He extended the match two times on his second serve, but ultimately double-faulted. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, only a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The match was fairly compelling proof that the American is not good enough to beat any version of the Serbian, that lost to Alcaraz in the next round and did not particularly appeared like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has acquired enough experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in media sessions, more so than virtually everyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only express how he feels or the strategy he felt determined a contest, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for the United States not produce a male major champion since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Group

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

Bjorn Borg Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in June of claiming a major. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is in fact highly unlikely for everybody else. {