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I possess some thoughts regarding the comments delivered by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz during the US Open last eight. Consider – the athlete represents American, the commentator is American – and athletic competitions frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment was understandable. Rather, he invoked the continued drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all enjoy a narrative, myself included. But come on. Even if the American defeated the legend for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, who he has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the previous seven major titles (plus Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the next round). Fritz said in press following his defeat that he actually preferred his path, because it presented the opportunity to beat the three best competitors in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is well justified to aim for the achievement; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the drought of US winners on the brain?

The American star's second serve the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

The American, twenty-eight, is ranked number four in the world entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six matches over third-ranked the German with increasing ease. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that is as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of performance metrics away. His elite delivery and powerful power on both forehand and reverse side are more than adequate to defeat the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. Against the select few generational talents, however, Fritz is frequently helpless. The past few seasons has witnessed the interesting emergence of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless cover the court with the alarming quickness and fluidity of smaller players. He is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His footwork is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the other player was dictating, and hitting a soft shot against him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a pretty harsh limitation on his upside.

Fritz has made a number of significant, unexpected advancements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the top 30. 24 months later, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he suddenly surged up to fourth place – and maintained the position. But the next leap, competing against and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, Sinner, and even a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What could the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the ongoing drought of American men winning grand slams when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply too much and the respect for the magnitude of the task too little.

Taylor Fritz achieved a personal best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

Fritz’s performance in that exact last eight match ought to have been enough of an sign. The Serbian won in four rounds, a victory that only felt uncertain 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 pair appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American earning plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the point of agony. When Fritz finally did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a terrible service game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and forced him to expend far too much effort to win it. Facing match points in the final game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to the sky. He extended the match two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, only a consequence of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly ironclad proof that Fritz is not good enough to defeat any form of the Serbian, who lost to Alcaraz in the following match and did not particularly seem like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities anymore, but has developed enough knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is those who were anticipating Fritz to prevail, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in media sessions, more so than almost everyone on the men's tour aside from the Russian star, prepared to not only express how he feels or the strategy he felt decided a match, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for the United States not spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

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

Bjorn Borg Group

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely think about it forever if I fail to accomplish it,” the American told a journalist in June of winning a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not achieve that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is actually highly unlikely for everybody else. {