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I possess a few thoughts regarding the comments made by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player in the US Open last eight. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is American – and sports often lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of disappointment was appropriate. Instead, he invoked the continued drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them had lifted a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone love a narrative, me too. But really. Even if Fritz defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the next round, who Fritz has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the previous seven major titles (plus Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the next round). Fritz said in press following his defeat that he in fact preferred his draw, because it offered the opportunity to beat the three best players in the sport in succession. Fritz is well justified to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final who else sensibly had the lack of US winners in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier between her and consistent victories

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the global rankings starting this week’s year-end championships and has secured his last six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev 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 high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a chasm of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class serve and powerful strength on each forehand and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to dispose of most opponents on the ATP tour. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The past few seasons has witnessed the interesting emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless cover the court with the alarming quickness and grace of smaller men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the other player was dictating, and hitting a soft shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a pretty harsh limitation on his potential.

The American has achieved a several dramatic, unexpected improvements over the years. Early on of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. 24 months after, 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 all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the continuing drought of American men lifting major titles when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just too much and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

The American star made a personal best run to the All England Club semi-finals in July.

The American's performance in that very last eight match should have been enough of an indication. The Serbian won in four sets, a win that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had survived a few match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the rallies, with the American creating plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after break point, extending the streak to the brink of frustration. When he eventually did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately played a terrible game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and compelled him to expend excessive energy to prevail. Facing set points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery sailed to heaven. He prolonged the match two times on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, only a result of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite compelling proof that Fritz is not good enough to defeat any form of the Serbian, who lost to the Spaniard in the following match and did not especially seem like he believed he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – the Serbian is the best player ever, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has developed enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he could.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in media sessions, exceeding virtually everyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only express how he feels or the tactic he felt determined a match, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the blame for the United States failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

American legend Group

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I don’t accomplish it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in the summer of winning a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is actually highly unlikely for all other players. {