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I possess a few thoughts regarding the comments made by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer after the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz during the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – Fritz is American, Fowler is from the US – and athletic competitions often lend themselves to nationalism. Some disappointment was appropriate. Instead, Fowler brought up the continued absence of American men at grand slam tournaments: none of them had lifted a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the competition.

Everyone love a storyline, myself included. But really. Suppose the American had beaten the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, who Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And had he somehow gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven grand slams (and Alcaraz proceeded to defeat a tired Serbian in the next round). Fritz said in press after the loss that he in fact preferred his path, because it offered the opportunity to defeat the top three competitors in the world back-to-back. He is more than justified to aim for the achievement; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But entering 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, 28, is ranked number four in the global rankings entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he might take that spot for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that at present, that’s as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and concussive power on each front side and reverse side are more than adequate to defeat most rivals on the ATP tour. Against the handful of generational talents, though, Fritz is often helpless. The last several seasons has witnessed the interesting emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nevertheless move around with the alarming quickness and fluidity of much shorter men. He is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. 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 acts as a quite harsh limitation on his upside.

Fritz has made a number of 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. 24 months later, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he suddenly exploded up to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, competing against and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What could 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 continuing drought of US male players winning grand slams when he had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the appreciation for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

Taylor Fritz achieved a personal best run to the Wimbledon semi-finals in the summer.

Fritz’s performance in that exact quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an indication. The Serbian triumphed in four sets, a victory that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had saved a couple match points and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The duo looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz earning plenty of chances to break. But the champion rescued break point after break point, prolonging the streak to the point of agony. When he finally did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a terrible service game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle secondary to the real battle and forced him to expend excessive effort to win it. Down set points in the final game, Fritz’s first serve floated to heaven. He prolonged the contest twice on his second serve, but finally committed two errors. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, just a consequence of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was quite compelling evidence that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of Djokovic, who lost to Alcaraz in the next round and did not particularly appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the best player ever, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has acquired sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the decline. The problem is those who were anticipating Fritz to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that indicated he would.

The American is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective presence in press conferences, more so than almost anyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only say how he feels or the tactic he felt determined a contest, but explain it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for the United States failing to produce a male major champion since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Since the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can share that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

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

Swedish icon Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I don’t do it,” Fritz informed a journalist in June of claiming a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not achieve that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is actually highly improbable for all other players. {