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I possess a few thoughts about the remarks delivered by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz in the New York major last eight. Consider – the athlete represents American, Fowler is from the US – and sports often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment would have been appropriate. Rather, he invoked the ongoing absence of American men at grand slam tournaments: none of them has won a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone love a storyline, myself included. But come on. Even if the American defeated Djokovic for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, who Fritz has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the previous seven grand slams (and the Spaniard went on to thrash a tired Djokovic in the subsequent match). He said in press after the loss that he actually liked his path, because it presented the chance to defeat the three best competitors in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is more than justified to aim for the achievement; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final who else in their right mind had the lack of US winners on the brain?

The American star's second serve the sole barrier between her and sustained success

The American, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the world entering the upcoming year-end championships and has won his last six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that is as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite delivery and concussive power on each front side and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to defeat most opponents on the ATP tour. When facing the select few generational talents, however, he is frequently overmatched. The past few years has seen the curious rise of lanky, towering athletes who can nevertheless move around with the surprising speed and grace of smaller players. 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 other player was dictating, and playing a soft shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite harsh limitation on his upside.

The American has made a number of dramatic, unexpected advancements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was approaching the top 10. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged to No 4 – and held the spot. But the next leap, competing against and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing slump of US male players lifting major titles when Fritz had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just too much and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

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

Fritz’s performance in that exact last eight match ought to have been enough of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a victory that only felt tenuous for moments towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz earning numerous chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the brink of frustration. When he finally did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a terrible service game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and forced him to use far too much effort to prevail. Down set points in the final game, his primary delivery floated to heaven. He extended the contest two times on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, just a result of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The match was quite compelling proof that Fritz is not good enough to beat any version of the Serbian, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the following match and did not especially appeared like he thought he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the best player ever, and might not be at the height of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is those who were expecting Fritz to win, and pressuring him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he could.

The American is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in press conferences, more so than virtually everyone on the ATP except for the Russian star, prepared to not just express how he feels or the tactic he believed determined a contest, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for the United States failing to produce a male major champion since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Division

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I don’t do it,” the American told 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 breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is in fact extremely improbable for everybody else. {