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I have some thoughts about the comments delivered by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz during the US Open last eight. Look – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown was understandable. Instead, he brought up the continued drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: none of them had lifted a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the competition.

We all enjoy a storyline, me too. But really. Even if Fritz had beaten the legend for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, whom Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven major titles (plus Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a tired Serbian in the next round). He stated in press after the loss that he in fact liked his path, because it presented the chance to defeat the three best competitors in the world back-to-back. He is more than within his right to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is supposed to have faith in themselves. But entering that Djokovic last eight match what other person in their right mind had the lack of American champions on the brain?

The American star's second serve the only thing standing in her way and consistent victories

The American, twenty-eight, is ranked number four in the global rankings entering this week’s year-end championships and has secured his last six matches over No 3 the German with increasing ease. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that right now, that’s as far as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a vast gap of ranking points away. His elite serve and powerful strength on each forehand and backhand are more than enough to defeat the majority of rivals on the ATP tour. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is often overmatched. The past few years has witnessed the interesting rise of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless cover the court with the surprising speed and grace of smaller men. Fritz is six-foot-five and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and playing a drop shot against him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a quite severe limitation on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a number of dramatic, unexpected advancements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was approaching the top 10. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged up to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What was Fowler have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing slump of American men lifting major titles when he had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the appreciation for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

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

The American's performance in that very last eight match should have been enough of an sign. Djokovic won in four rounds, a win that only felt tenuous for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had saved a couple match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz earning plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the run to the point of agony. When Fritz eventually did claim a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a horrendous service game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and compelled him to expend excessive effort to prevail. Facing set points in the final game, his primary delivery sailed to heaven. He extended the match twice on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, only a result of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly ironclad evidence that the American is not good enough to beat any form of the Serbian, that lost to the Spaniard in the next round and never especially seem like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has developed sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is those who were expecting Fritz to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that suggested he would.

The American is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective presence in media sessions, exceeding virtually everyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only express his emotions or the strategy he believed decided a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America not produce a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can divide that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz informed a journalist in the summer of claiming a major. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is in fact extremely unlikely for everybody else. {