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I have a few opinions about that remarks made by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz in the New York major quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents American, the commentator is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment would have been understandable. Instead, he brought up the ongoing drought of US male players at the majors: not one of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

Everyone love a narrative, me too. But really. Suppose the American defeated the legend for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was looming in the following match, whom he has never defeated in an official match. And had he someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the last seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz went on to thrash a tired Djokovic in the subsequent match). He said in post-match interviews after the loss that he in fact preferred his path, because it offered the chance to defeat the three best competitors in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is more than justified to aim for the achievement; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic last eight match who else sensibly had the drought of American champions on the brain?

The American star's second serve the only thing standing in her way 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 No 3 the German with growing comfort. Presumably he might claim that position for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that is as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of performance metrics away. His top-class serve and concussive power on each forehand and reverse side are sufficiently enough to dispose of most opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is often overmatched. The past few years has witnessed the interesting emergence of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and fluidity of smaller players. 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 dictating, and playing a drop shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite severe limitation on his upside.

Fritz has made a several significant, improbable advancements over the years. Early on of the ten-year period, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was approaching the top 10. The previous season, he suddenly exploded to No 4 – and held the position. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including 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 appropriate mentioning the ongoing slump of US male players winning grand slams when Fritz had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the respect for the difficulty of the task too little.

The American star made a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon last four in July.

The American's play in that exact last eight match should have been enough of an indication. Djokovic won in four sets, a win that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz creating numerous chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved break point after break point, prolonging the run to the point of frustration. When Fritz eventually did claim one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a terrible game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and compelled him to expend far too much effort to win it. Down match points in the final game, his primary delivery sailed to heaven. He prolonged the contest twice on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, only a result of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The match was quite ironclad evidence that Fritz is not good enough to beat any version of Djokovic, who lost to the Spaniard in the next round and never particularly seem like he thought he could win. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has acquired enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to prevail, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not done anything that suggested he would.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a patient, reflective voice in media sessions, more so than virtually everyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just express how he feels or the tactic he believed determined a match, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the blame for America failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Group

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

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in June of claiming a grand slam. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not a failure if he does not achieve that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying empire is in fact highly improbable for all other players. {