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I have a few opinions about the comments made by ESPN broadcaster a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz during the US Open last eight. Look – Fritz is American, the commentator is from the US – and sports frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some letdown was understandable. Rather, he invoked the continued drought of American men at the majors: none of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all enjoy a narrative, me too. But really. Suppose Fritz defeated the legend for the first time, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the next round, who he has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz went on to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the next round). Fritz said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact preferred his draw, because it presented the opportunity to beat the three best competitors in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is more than justified to aim for the accomplishment; an competitor is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match 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, twenty-eight, is ranked fourth in the global rankings starting this week’s year-end championships and has won his previous six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. Presumably he might claim that position for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that is as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite serve and concussive power on each forehand and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to defeat the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The past few years has seen the interesting emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nevertheless move around with the alarming speed and fluidity of smaller players. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and hitting a soft shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite harsh restriction on his upside.

Fritz has made a several significant, unexpected improvements throughout his career. Early on of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly surged up to fourth place – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating legendary figures like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the ongoing slump of US male players winning major titles when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the task insufficient.

Taylor Fritz achieved 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 sufficient of an indication. The Serbian won in four sets, a victory that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz creating plenty of opportunities to break. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the run to the brink of frustration. When he finally did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately produced a horrendous service game to lose his own serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and forced him to use excessive effort to prevail. Down match points in the final game, his first serve floated to heaven. He extended the contest two times on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, just a consequence of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly ironclad proof that the American is insufficiently skilled to beat any version of Djokovic, who lost to Alcaraz in the following match and did not especially seem like he thought he could win. This is perfectly fine – the Serbian is the best player ever, and might not be at the height of his physical powers anymore, but has acquired sufficient experience and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is the individuals who were expecting the American to win, and pressuring him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he would.

The American is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in press conferences, exceeding almost anyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just express his emotions or the strategy he believed decided a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for the United States failing to produce a male major champion since the last American titlist seems unjust. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can divide that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Group

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I don’t do it,” the American informed an interviewer in June of winning a major. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he does not achieve that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is actually highly unlikely for everybody else. {