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I possess some opinions about that remarks delivered by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz in the US Open last eight. Look – the athlete represents American, Fowler is American – and sports frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown would have been appropriate. Instead, he invoked the continued absence of US male players at the majors: not one of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

Everyone enjoy a narrative, me too. But come on. Suppose the American had beaten the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was looming in the next round, whom Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven major titles (and Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a tired Djokovic in the next round). He said in press following his defeat that he in fact preferred his path, because it offered the opportunity to beat the top three competitors in the world back-to-back. Fritz is more than within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final who else sensibly had the drought of US winners in mind?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the sole barrier standing in her way and consistent victories

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed fourth in the world starting the upcoming year-end championships and has won his last six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he might take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that at present, that is as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite delivery and powerful power on both forehand and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to dispose of most rivals on the ATP tour. Against the handful of generational talents, however, Fritz is often helpless. The last several seasons has seen the interesting rise of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless move around with the surprising speed and grace of much shorter men. He is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His footwork is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and hitting a soft shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty severe restriction on his potential.

The American has made a several dramatic, improbable improvements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged up to No 4 – and held the spot. But the next leap, competing against and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What was Fowler thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the ongoing slump of US male players lifting major titles when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply too much and the respect for the magnitude of the task insufficient.

Taylor Fritz achieved a career-best advancement to the All England Club last four in July.

Fritz’s performance in that very quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a victory that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a couple match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz creating numerous chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved service break opportunity after break point, extending the streak to the brink of agony. When Fritz finally did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a horrendous service game to drop serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle secondary to the real battle and forced him to expend excessive energy to win it. Down match points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery sailed to heaven. He extended the match two times on his second serve, but finally committed two errors. It was not a choke, in my opinion, only a consequence of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was fairly ironclad evidence that the American is insufficiently skilled to beat any version of the Serbian, who lost to the Spaniard in the next round and did not particularly appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities anymore, but has developed enough knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The issue is those who were anticipating the American to win, and pressuring him to do so, when he was had not done anything that indicated he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective presence in press conferences, more so than almost everyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just express his emotions or the tactic he felt decided a contest, but clarify it. That he should bear the brunt of the blame for America not spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can share that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

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 fail to accomplish it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in June of claiming a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he does not achieve that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying empire is in fact extremely unlikely for all other players. {