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I have a few thoughts about that comments made by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz during the New York major last eight. Consider – Fritz is American, the commentator is from the US – and sports frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment was understandable. Instead, he brought up the ongoing drought of US male players at the majors: not one of them had lifted a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone enjoy a storyline, myself included. But come on. Suppose Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was looming in the following match, who he has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d someway survived that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the previous seven major titles (and the Spaniard went on to defeat a tired Djokovic in the next round). He stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually liked his draw, because it presented the opportunity to beat the top three competitors in the world back-to-back. He is well within his right to aim for the achievement; an competitor is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final who else in their right mind had the drought of American champions in mind?

The American star's second serve the sole barrier between her and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is ranked number four in the world entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his previous six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he might take that spot for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that is as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of ranking points away. Fritz’s elite serve and concussive strength on each forehand and reverse side are more than adequate to dispose of most rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is often helpless. The past few seasons has witnessed the curious rise of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless move around with the surprising speed and grace of much shorter players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a soft shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite severe restriction on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a number of significant, unexpected advancements 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 elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded to fourth place – and held the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and even a aging Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What could the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the continuing slump of US male players winning grand slams when he had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task too little.

The American star achieved a personal best advancement to the All England Club last four in the summer.

The American's performance in that very quarter-final ought to have been enough of an indication. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz creating numerous chances to break. But the champion saved service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the streak to the point of frustration. When he finally 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; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and compelled him to expend far too much energy to prevail. Down set points in the final game, his primary delivery sailed to the sky. He prolonged the match twice on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, just a result of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite ironclad evidence that Fritz is not good enough to beat any form of the Serbian, that lost to Alcaraz in the next round and never particularly appeared like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, but has developed enough experience and tactical know-how to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The issue is those who were anticipating the American to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective presence in press conferences, exceeding almost anyone on the men's tour aside from the Russian star, willing to not only say how he feels or the strategy he felt determined a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America failing to spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

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

Bjorn Borg Division

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I don’t accomplish it,” the American told an interviewer in the summer of claiming a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is actually highly improbable for all other players. {