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I have some opinions about the remarks made by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz during the US Open last eight. Consider – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is from the US – and athletic competitions often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown would have been understandable. Rather, Fowler invoked the continued drought of American men at the majors: not one of them had lifted a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

Everyone love a storyline, myself included. But come on. Suppose Fritz defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the next round, who Fritz has yet to beat in an official match. And had he somehow gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven major titles (plus the Spaniard went on to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the next round). Fritz said in press following his defeat that he in fact preferred his path, because it offered the chance to beat the top three players in the sport back-to-back. He is well within his right to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final what other person sensibly had the drought of American champions on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier between her and consistent victories

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed fourth in the world starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six matches over third-ranked the German with growing comfort. Presumably he might claim that position for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that’s as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class serve and powerful power on each forehand and reverse side are more than enough to defeat the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is often overmatched. The past few seasons has seen the curious rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and grace of much shorter men. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was dictating, and hitting a soft shot against him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a quite severe limitation on his upside.

The American has achieved a several significant, improbable improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly surged up to fourth place – and held the position. But the next leap, competing against and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and even a declining Djokovic, is the toughest 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 appropriate mentioning the ongoing slump of US male players winning grand slams when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

The American star made a personal best run to the All England Club semi-finals in the summer.

The American's play in that very quarter-final ought to have been enough of an sign. Djokovic won in four sets, a victory that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American creating numerous opportunities to break. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the run to the point of frustration. When he eventually did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a horrendous service game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a battle secondary to the main contest and compelled him to expend excessive effort to prevail. Down match points in the final game, Fritz’s first serve floated to heaven. He extended the contest two times on his second serve, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, only a result of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was quite compelling evidence that Fritz is not good enough to beat any version of Djokovic, who lost to the Spaniard in the following match and did not especially appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and might not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired enough experience and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is those who were anticipating the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a patient, reflective presence in press conferences, exceeding virtually anyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just express his emotions or the tactic he believed determined a match, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States failing to produce a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Since the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I don’t do it,” the American informed an interviewer in the summer of winning a major. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is in fact highly improbable for everybody else. {