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I possess some thoughts regarding the remarks delivered by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz in the US Open quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is American, Fowler is American – and sports often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment was appropriate. Rather, he brought up the ongoing absence of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the competition.

We all love a narrative, myself included. But really. Even if the American defeated Djokovic for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was looming in the next round, who he has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, versus him Fritz had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the previous seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the next round). Fritz stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact preferred his path, because it offered the chance to defeat the three best players in the sport in succession. Fritz is well justified to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is meant to believe in themselves. But entering that Serbian last eight match what other person sensibly had the drought of US winners in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

The American, twenty-eight, is ranked number four in the global rankings entering this week’s year-end championships and has won his previous six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that’s as far as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a vast gap of ranking points away. His top-class serve and powerful power on each forehand and backhand are sufficiently enough to defeat most rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of generational talents, however, he is often overmatched. The past few years has witnessed the curious rise of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless move around with the surprising speed and fluidity of smaller men. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His footwork is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom win a rally that the opponent was controlling, and playing a soft shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite harsh restriction on his upside.

Fritz has made a several dramatic, improbable improvements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the bottom of the top 30. 24 months later, he was approaching the top 10. The previous season, he unexpectedly exploded to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, competing against and beating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a aging Serbian, is the toughest of all. What could the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the ongoing drought of American men lifting grand slams when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the appreciation for the magnitude of the task insufficient.

Taylor Fritz made a career-best run to the Wimbledon semi-finals in the summer.

Fritz’s play in that exact quarter-final should have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic won in four sets, a victory that only felt uncertain for moments towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a few championship opportunities and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American earning numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued break point after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the point of frustration. When Fritz finally did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a horrendous service game to lose his own serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the real battle and forced him to expend excessive effort to win it. Down match points in the final game, his first serve sailed to heaven. He extended the match twice on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, just a consequence of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was quite compelling proof that the American is not good enough to defeat any version of Djokovic, that lost to the Spaniard in the next round and did not particularly appeared like he believed he could win. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has developed enough knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The problem is those who were anticipating the American to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to accomplished anything that indicated he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a patient, reflective presence in media sessions, more so than almost everyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just say how he feels or the tactic he believed determined a match, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for the United States failing to produce a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

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 don’t do it,” the American told an interviewer in the summer of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is actually highly unlikely for everybody else. {