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I possess some opinions regarding that remarks delivered by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's victory over the American player during the US Open last eight. Consider – the athlete represents American, Fowler is American – and sports frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown was appropriate. Rather, Fowler invoked the continued absence of US male players at the majors: none of them has won a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

Everyone love a narrative, me too. But come on. Even if Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz 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 Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven major titles (plus the Spaniard went on to defeat a tired Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz said in press 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 achievement; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final who else sensibly had the lack of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the only thing standing in her way and consistent victories

Fritz, 28, is placed fourth in the world entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that is as far as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a vast gap of ranking points away. His elite delivery and powerful strength on each front side and reverse side are sufficiently enough to dispose of the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the select few generational talents, though, he is often helpless. The past few seasons has witnessed the curious rise of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless move around with the alarming quickness and fluidity of smaller players. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His footwork 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 versus him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a pretty severe limitation on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a several significant, unexpected advancements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a aging Djokovic, is the highest of all. What was Fowler thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing drought of US male players winning grand slams when Fritz had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

The American star made a personal best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

The American's performance in that exact quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic won in four sets, a victory that only felt tenuous for moments towards the conclusion, when the American had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz creating numerous chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the point of agony. When Fritz eventually did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a horrendous service game to drop serve again; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and compelled him to use excessive effort to win it. Facing match points in the final game, his primary delivery sailed to heaven. He prolonged the match two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, only a result of having to hit too many second serves.

The match was fairly compelling evidence that the American is not good enough to beat any version of the Serbian, that lost to Alcaraz in the following match and did not particularly seem like he believed he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the best player ever, and might not be at the height of his physical powers anymore, but has developed sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is those who were expecting Fritz to prevail, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to accomplished anything that indicated he would.

The American is an asset to the circuit regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in media sessions, more so than almost everyone on the ATP aside from the Russian star, willing to not just express how he feels or the strategy he felt decided a contest, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for America failing to spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Group

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

Swedish icon Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” Fritz told an interviewer in the summer of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he does not achieve that goal, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is in fact highly unlikely for everybody else. {