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I have some thoughts regarding that comments made by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz during the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents American, the commentator is American – and athletic competitions often encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown was appropriate. Instead, Fowler invoked the continued absence of US male players at the majors: none of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

We all enjoy a narrative, myself included. But come on. Even if Fritz defeated the legend for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, who Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven major titles (and the Spaniard proceeded to defeat a tired Djokovic in the next round). He stated in press after the loss that he in fact preferred his draw, because it offered the opportunity to beat the top three players in the sport back-to-back. He is more than justified to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final who else sensibly had the lack of American champions in mind?

The American star's weaker delivery the only thing standing in her way and consistent victories

Fritz, twenty-eight, is ranked number four in the world entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he might take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that is as far as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a vast gap of ranking points away. His elite delivery and concussive power on both front side and reverse side are sufficiently enough to defeat most opponents on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of generational talents, though, Fritz is frequently helpless. The past few seasons has witnessed the interesting emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nevertheless move around with the surprising quickness and fluidity of much shorter men. Fritz is six-foot-five and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and hitting a drop shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty severe restriction on his upside.

The American has achieved a number of significant, unexpected improvements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged to fourth place – and held the position. But the next leap, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What could Fowler thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the ongoing slump of US male players lifting major titles when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just too much and the appreciation for the magnitude of the task insufficient.

Taylor Fritz made a career-best run to the Wimbledon last four in July.

The American's performance in that exact last eight match ought to have been sufficient of an indication. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a win that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The pair looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz earning plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued break point after service break opportunity, extending the streak to the brink of agony. When Fritz eventually did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a horrendous service game to lose his own serve once more; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle secondary to the main contest and compelled him to expend far too much effort to win it. Facing match points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve floated to the sky. He extended the contest twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, just a consequence of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The match was quite compelling proof that the American is not good enough to beat any form of Djokovic, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the following match and never especially seem like he believed he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to make up for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to prevail, and pressuring him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective voice in press conferences, exceeding almost anyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just say his emotions or the tactic he believed decided a match, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the blame for America failing to produce a male major champion since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can share that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I don’t do it,” the American told an interviewer in June of claiming a major. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he does not achieve that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is actually extremely improbable for all other players. {