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I possess some thoughts regarding the comments made by ESPN broadcaster Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player during the US Open last eight. Consider – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is from the US – and sports often encourage nationalism. Some letdown would have been appropriate. Rather, Fowler brought up the continued drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the competition.

We all love a narrative, me too. But come on. Suppose Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, who he has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d someway survived that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, versus him the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven major titles (plus the Spaniard went on to defeat a tired Serbian in the subsequent match). He stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact preferred his path, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the top three competitors in the world back-to-back. He is well within his right to aim for the achievement; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final what other person sensibly had the lack of US winners in mind?

The American star's weaker delivery the only thing between her and consistent victories

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the global rankings entering this week’s year-end championships and has won his last six encounters over third-ranked the German with growing comfort. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that at present, that’s as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of ranking points away. His top-class serve and concussive strength on both front side and reverse side are more than enough to defeat the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is frequently helpless. The past few years has witnessed the interesting rise of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless move around with the alarming speed and fluidity of much shorter players. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was controlling, and hitting a drop shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty harsh restriction on his potential.

The American has made a number of significant, improbable advancements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the top 30. Two years after, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, Sinner, and even a aging Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What could the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing slump of American men lifting major titles when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the appreciation for the magnitude of the challenge insufficient.

The American star achieved a personal best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in the summer.

Fritz’s play in that exact quarter-final ought to have been enough of an indication. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only seemed tenuous for moments towards the very end, when the American had saved a few championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American earning plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued break point after break point, extending the run to the point of agony. When he eventually did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a terrible service game to drop serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and compelled him to expend far too much energy to prevail. Facing match points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery sailed to heaven. He extended the match two times on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, just a consequence of having to hit too many second serves.

The contest was quite compelling evidence that the American is not good enough to beat any version of the Serbian, that lost to the Spaniard in the next round and did not particularly seem like he thought he could win. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The problem is those who were expecting the American to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in media sessions, more so than virtually anyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just say his emotions or the tactic he believed determined a match, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the blame for America not spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unjust. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Division

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely dwell on it indefinitely if I don’t do it,” the American told a journalist in June of winning a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he does not fulfill that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is actually highly unlikely for everybody else. {