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I have some thoughts regarding the remarks made by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer after the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz in the US Open last eight. Consider – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is from the US – and sports frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown would have been appropriate. Instead, he brought up the continued absence of US male players at the majors: none of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

We all enjoy a narrative, me too. But really. Even if the American defeated the legend for the first time, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the following match, 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 Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the last seven major titles (plus Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the next round). Fritz stated in post-match interviews after the loss that he in fact preferred his draw, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the top three competitors in the sport in succession. Fritz is more than within his right to aim for the achievement; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic last eight match what other person in their right mind had the lack of American champions on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing between her and sustained success

The American, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the world entering this week’s year-end championships and has secured his last six matches over third-ranked the German with increasing ease. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that is as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s elite delivery and concussive strength on both forehand and backhand are sufficiently enough to dispose of the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is often overmatched. The past few seasons has witnessed the curious rise of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and grace of smaller players. Fritz is six-foot-five and appears that way. 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 dictating, and hitting a soft shot against him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a pretty harsh restriction on his upside.

The American has achieved a several significant, improbable improvements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the top 30. 24 months after, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly surged up to No 4 – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the continuing slump of American men lifting grand slams when he had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

The American star achieved a career-best advancement to the All England Club semi-finals in July.

The American's performance in that very last eight match ought to have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic won in four rounds, a win that only felt tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a few championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American creating plenty of chances to break. But the champion saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the brink of agony. When Fritz eventually did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a horrendous service game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the real battle and compelled him to expend excessive effort to win it. Down match points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to heaven. He extended the match twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a collapse, I didn’t think, only a consequence of needing to hit too many second serves.

The contest was quite compelling evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of Djokovic, who lost to the Spaniard in the next round and did not especially appeared like he thought he could win. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired sufficient experience and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The problem is those who were expecting Fritz to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he would.

The American is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in media sessions, exceeding almost anyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only say his emotions or the tactic he felt determined a match, 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 feels unjust. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

American legend Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Division

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

“I’d probably dwell on it forever if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz informed a journalist in June of winning a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not fulfill that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is in fact highly unlikely for all other players. {