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I have a few thoughts about the remarks delivered by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player in the US Open quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is American, the commentator is American – and sports often encourage patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment would have been appropriate. Rather, Fowler invoked the ongoing drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them had lifted a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all love a narrative, me too. But really. Even if Fritz had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, who he has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the last seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard went on to defeat a tired Djokovic in the subsequent match). He said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact preferred his path, because it presented the opportunity to beat the top three competitors in the world back-to-back. He is well justified to aim for the accomplishment; an competitor is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final who else sensibly had the lack of American champions on the brain?

The American star's weaker delivery the sole barrier between her and consistent victories

Fritz, 28, is placed number four in the world entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that is as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite delivery and concussive power on each front side and reverse side are sufficiently enough to dispose of most opponents on the ATP tour. Against the handful of generational talents, however, Fritz is often overmatched. The past few seasons has seen the curious emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless cover the court with the alarming speed and fluidity of much shorter men. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His movement is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was controlling, and playing a soft shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite severe restriction on his potential.

The American has achieved a number of dramatic, improbable improvements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly exploded up to fourth place – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and even a aging Djokovic, 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 continuing slump of American men winning major titles when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

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

Fritz’s play in that exact last eight match ought to have been enough of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four rounds, a win that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had saved a couple match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz creating numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the brink of frustration. When Fritz eventually did claim a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately produced a horrendous service game to drop serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and forced him to expend far too much effort to prevail. Down set points in the final game, his first serve sailed to heaven. He extended the match two times on his second serve, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, only a result of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was quite compelling proof that the American is not good enough to defeat any form of the Serbian, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and never particularly seem like he believed he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – the Serbian is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has developed sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is those who were expecting Fritz to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he would.

The American is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a calm, reflective presence in media sessions, exceeding almost everyone on the men's tour except for the Russian star, willing to not just say his emotions or the strategy he believed decided a match, but explain it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for America failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can share that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz informed a journalist in the summer of winning a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not fulfill that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is in fact extremely unlikely for everybody else. {