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I have some opinions regarding the remarks delivered by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player in the US Open quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is from the US – and sports often lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of disappointment was understandable. Rather, Fowler brought up the ongoing absence of US male players at the majors: none of them had lifted a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

Everyone enjoy a storyline, myself included. But come on. Even if the American had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the following match, who Fritz has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, versus him the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven grand slams (and Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the next round). Fritz stated in press after the loss that he in fact liked his draw, because it offered the chance to defeat the three best competitors in the world in succession. Fritz is well justified to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the lack of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the only thing standing in her way and consistent victories

Fritz, 28, is placed fourth in the world starting the upcoming year-end championships and has secured his previous six encounters over third-ranked the German with growing comfort. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that’s as high as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a chasm of ranking points away. Fritz’s elite serve and concussive power on each front side and reverse side are more than adequate to dispose of the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is often overmatched. The last several years has witnessed the interesting rise of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless cover the court with the alarming quickness and fluidity of much shorter players. He is six-foot-five and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the opponent was dictating, and hitting a drop shot against him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a pretty severe restriction on his upside.

The American has achieved a number of significant, unexpected improvements throughout his career. Early on of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was sniffing the top 10. The previous season, he suddenly exploded up to No 4 – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, Sinner, and even a declining Djokovic, is the highest of all. What was Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the ongoing drought of US male players winning grand slams when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

The American star made a personal best run to the All England Club last four in July.

The American's play in that very quarter-final should have been enough of an indication. Djokovic won in four sets, a win that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the conclusion, when Fritz had survived a couple match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the rallies, with the American creating numerous chances to break. But the champion saved service break opportunity after break point, extending the run to the brink of agony. When Fritz finally did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately produced a horrendous service game to drop serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and forced him to use far too much effort to prevail. Down match points in the final game, his primary delivery floated to heaven. He prolonged the match twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a choke, in my opinion, only a consequence of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite ironclad proof that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any form of the Serbian, that lost to Alcaraz in the next round and did not especially seem like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to win, 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 calm, thoughtful voice in press conferences, exceeding virtually everyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only say how he feels or the tactic he believed decided a match, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America failing to produce a male major champion since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Division

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

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz told a journalist in the summer of claiming a grand slam. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable empire is actually highly unlikely for everybody else. {