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I have a few opinions about that remarks made by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz during the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents American, Fowler is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of disappointment was appropriate. Rather, he invoked the continued drought of US male players at the majors: not one of them has won a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all love a narrative, me too. But really. Suppose the American had beaten the legend for the first time, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the following match, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven major titles (and the Spaniard went on to defeat a fatigued Djokovic in the next round). Fritz said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually preferred his draw, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the three best competitors in the world in succession. Fritz is well within his right to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic last eight match what other person in their right mind had the lack of US winners in mind?

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

The American, 28, is ranked fourth in the world starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six encounters over No 3 the German with growing comfort. It's likely he could claim that position for himself in the future. But evidently that at present, that is as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. His elite delivery and powerful strength on both front side and reverse side are more than adequate to defeat the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. Against the select few generational talents, though, he is frequently overmatched. The last several years has seen the curious emergence of tall, gangly players who can nevertheless move around with the alarming speed and grace of smaller players. Fritz is six-foot-five and looks it. His movement is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a soft shot against him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a pretty harsh restriction on his potential.

Fritz has made a number of significant, improbable advancements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. Two years after, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly exploded up to fourth place – and held the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, Sinner, and even a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing drought of US male players lifting major titles when Fritz had departed the US Open 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 Wimbledon semi-finals in the summer.

The American's play in that very quarter-final should have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian won in four sets, a victory that only seemed tenuous for moments towards the very end, when Fritz had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz creating plenty of chances to break. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the run to the brink of agony. When Fritz finally did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a terrible service game to drop serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and compelled him to use far too much energy to prevail. Down match points in the last game, his primary delivery floated to the sky. He prolonged the match two times on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, just a consequence of having to hit too many second serves.

The contest was quite compelling proof that the American is not good enough to beat any form of Djokovic, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and never especially appeared like he believed he could win. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the best player ever, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired enough experience and tactical know-how to make up for a significant portion of the drop-off. The problem is those who were expecting Fritz to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that indicated he could.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in press conferences, more so than virtually anyone on the ATP aside from the Russian star, willing to not only say his emotions or the strategy he believed determined a match, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for America failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unjust. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Group

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I don’t do it,” the American informed a journalist in the summer of claiming a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is in fact extremely unlikely for all other players. {