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I have a few thoughts regarding the remarks made by ESPN broadcaster Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz in the New York major last eight. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is American – and athletic competitions often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown was understandable. Instead, he invoked the continued absence of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none 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 enjoy a narrative, me too. But come on. Suppose the American defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the following match, who Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And had he someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the previous seven major titles (and Alcaraz went on to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). He said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact preferred his draw, because it presented the opportunity to beat the three best players in the world back-to-back. Fritz is more than within his right to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final who else in their right mind had the drought of US winners in mind?

The American star's weaker delivery the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is ranked number four in the world starting this week’s year-end championships and has won his previous six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that is as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a chasm of ranking points away. Fritz’s elite delivery and powerful strength on each forehand and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to defeat the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of generational talents, however, he is frequently overmatched. The past few years has seen the curious emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless move around with the surprising speed and grace of smaller players. He is six-foot-five and appears that way. His movement is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the opponent was controlling, and playing a drop shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite severe limitation on his potential.

Fritz has made a several dramatic, improbable improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the top 30. Two years later, he was sniffing the top 10. The previous season, he suddenly surged to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was Fowler thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing slump of American men winning grand slams when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

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

Fritz’s performance in that very last eight match ought to have been enough of an indication. The Serbian won in four rounds, a win that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the very end, when the American had survived a couple match points and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the rallies, with the American earning plenty of opportunities to break. But the champion rescued break point after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the point of agony. When Fritz eventually did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately produced a horrendous service game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and forced him to expend excessive effort to win it. Facing set points in the last game, his primary delivery floated to heaven. He prolonged the match two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, just a consequence of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was quite ironclad evidence that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of Djokovic, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and never particularly appeared like he thought he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has developed enough experience and tactical know-how to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to prevail, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective presence in media sessions, exceeding almost anyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only express his emotions or the tactic he believed decided 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 Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Since the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Division

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

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz told an interviewer in June of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is in fact extremely improbable for all other players. {