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I have a few thoughts regarding that comments made by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player during the New York major last eight. Consider – the athlete represents American, the commentator is from the US – and athletic competitions often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown would have been appropriate. Rather, he invoked the ongoing absence of US male players at the majors: none of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the competition.

Everyone love a storyline, me too. But really. Suppose Fritz defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the following match, whom Fritz has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d someway survived that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz proceeded to defeat a tired Djokovic in the next round). He said in post-match interviews after the loss that he in fact liked his draw, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the three best competitors in the sport back-to-back. He is more than within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic last eight match what other person sensibly had the drought of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing between her and consistent victories

The American, 28, is placed number four in the global rankings starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his previous six matches over No 3 the German with growing comfort. It's likely he might take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that’s as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of ranking points away. His top-class delivery and concussive strength on both front side and backhand are more than enough to dispose of the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is often helpless. The last several seasons has witnessed the interesting rise of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and fluidity of much shorter men. He is six-foot-five and appears that way. 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 dictating, and playing a soft shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a pretty severe limitation on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a several dramatic, improbable improvements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he suddenly exploded up to fourth place – and held the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a aging Serbian, is the toughest of all. What could the commentator have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing drought of US male players lifting major titles when Fritz had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply too much and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

Taylor Fritz made a career-best run to the All England Club semi-finals in July.

The American's play in that very quarter-final should have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only felt 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 numerous chances to break. But the champion rescued break point after break point, prolonging the streak to the point of agony. When Fritz eventually did claim one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a horrendous game to drop serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and compelled him to expend far too much energy to prevail. Facing set points in the last game, his first serve sailed to the sky. He prolonged the contest twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a choke, in my opinion, only a consequence of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly ironclad evidence that the American is not good enough to defeat any version of the Serbian, that was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and never especially appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his athletic abilities now, but has developed sufficient experience and tactical know-how to make up 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.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in media sessions, more so than almost everyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only express how he feels or the strategy he felt determined a contest, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for the United States not spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Group

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” Fritz told a journalist in the summer of winning a grand slam. It is hoped he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is in fact highly improbable for all other players. {