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I have some opinions regarding that remarks made by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz during the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is from the US – and athletic competitions often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment would have been understandable. Rather, he invoked the continued drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all enjoy a storyline, myself included. But really. Even if Fritz had beaten the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the next round, whom Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz went on to thrash a tired Djokovic in the next round). Fritz stated in press after the loss that he in fact liked his draw, because it presented the chance to defeat the top three competitors in the world in succession. He is well within his right to aim for the accomplishment; an competitor is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final what other person sensibly had the drought of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the only thing between her and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is ranked fourth in the global rankings entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his previous six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that right now, that is as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of ranking points away. His top-class delivery and powerful strength on each forehand and reverse side are more than enough to defeat the majority of rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of generational talents, though, he is often overmatched. The last several seasons has seen the curious rise of lanky, towering athletes who can nevertheless cover the court with the alarming quickness and fluidity of smaller men. He is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom win a rally that the opponent was dictating, and playing a soft shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a quite harsh restriction on his potential.

Fritz has made a several significant, unexpected advancements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly exploded up to fourth place – and held the position. But the next leap, mixing it up with and beating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a aging Djokovic, is the highest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing drought of American men winning major titles when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just too much and the appreciation for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

The American star achieved a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

Fritz’s performance in that exact quarter-final should have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic won in four rounds, a victory that only seemed tenuous for moments towards the very end, when Fritz had survived a few championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz earning numerous chances to break. But Djokovic rescued break point after break point, prolonging the streak to the point of frustration. When Fritz finally did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a terrible game to lose his own serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and compelled him to use far too much energy to prevail. Facing set points in the last game, his first serve sailed to the sky. He prolonged the contest two times on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, only a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of 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 following match and never especially appeared like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has developed enough experience and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the decline. The problem is those who were expecting the American to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in press conferences, more so than almost everyone on the ATP except for the Russian star, willing to not only say how he feels or the strategy he felt decided a match, but clarify it. That he should bear the brunt of the blame for the United States not produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Division

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” the American informed an interviewer in the summer of winning a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he does not fulfill that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is in fact highly improbable for everybody else. {