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I have a few opinions about that comments made by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz in the US Open last eight. Look – Fritz is American, Fowler is American – and athletic competitions often encourage patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment would have been appropriate. Instead, he brought up the ongoing drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them had lifted a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all love a narrative, me too. But come on. Even if the American defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was looming in the following match, whom he has never defeated in an official match. And had he someway gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the previous seven major titles (and the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). Fritz said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually preferred his path, because it offered the opportunity to defeat the three best competitors in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is well justified to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match what other person in their right mind had the drought of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier between her and sustained success

The American, twenty-eight, is placed fourth in the global rankings entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as far as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. His elite delivery and concussive strength on each forehand and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to dispose of the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is often helpless. The past few years has witnessed the interesting emergence of tall, gangly players who can nevertheless move around with the surprising speed and fluidity of smaller men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a drop shot against him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a pretty severe restriction on his upside.

The American has achieved a several dramatic, unexpected advancements throughout his career. At the beginning of the ten-year period, 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 suddenly exploded to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and even a aging Djokovic, is the highest of all. What could the commentator 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 lifting major titles when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

The American star made a career-best advancement to the All England Club last four in July.

The American's performance in that exact last eight match ought to have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian won in four sets, a victory that only felt tenuous for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a couple match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American earning plenty of opportunities to break. But Djokovic saved break point after break point, prolonging the streak to the point of frustration. When he finally did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a horrendous service game to lose his own serve again; the Serbian had lulled him into a battle secondary to the main contest and compelled him to expend excessive effort to win it. Down set points in the final game, his primary delivery sailed to the sky. He prolonged the match twice on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, just a result of needing to hit too many second serves.

The contest was quite ironclad proof that the American is insufficiently skilled to beat any form of Djokovic, that was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and did not particularly appeared like he believed he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his physical powers anymore, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is those who were anticipating the American to win, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in press conferences, more so than almost anyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just express his emotions or the tactic he believed decided a match, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for the United States not spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

American legend Group

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Division

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” the American told a journalist in the summer of winning a major. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is actually extremely unlikely for everybody else. {