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I have a few opinions about the comments made by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz during the US Open last eight. Consider – the athlete represents American, Fowler is American – and athletic competitions often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment would have been appropriate. Instead, Fowler invoked the continued drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

Everyone enjoy a storyline, me too. But come on. Suppose Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was looming in the following match, whom he has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the previous seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz went on to defeat a tired Djokovic in the subsequent match). Fritz stated in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually preferred his draw, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the three best competitors in the sport back-to-back. He is well justified to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian last eight match who else sensibly had the lack of US winners on the brain?

The American star's weaker delivery the sole barrier standing in her way and consistent victories

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the global rankings starting this week’s year-end championships and has secured his last six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that right now, that’s as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a vast gap of ranking points away. His elite delivery and powerful strength on each forehand and reverse side are sufficiently enough to dispose of most opponents on the ATP tour. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is often helpless. The past few seasons has witnessed the curious emergence of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless cover the court with the alarming speed and fluidity of much shorter men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the other player was controlling, and playing a soft shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty harsh limitation on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a number of significant, unexpected advancements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly exploded up to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, competing against and defeating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What was the commentator have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the ongoing drought of US male players winning grand slams when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

Taylor Fritz made a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in the summer.

Fritz’s performance in that exact last eight match should have been enough of an indication. The Serbian won in four sets, a victory that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the conclusion, when Fritz had survived a couple match points and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz creating plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued break point after break point, prolonging the streak to the brink of agony. When Fritz finally did claim one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a terrible service game to drop serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the real battle and forced him to expend far too much energy to prevail. Facing set points in the final game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to the sky. He prolonged the contest two times on his second serve, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, just a consequence of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite compelling evidence that the American is not good enough to defeat any version of the Serbian, who lost to the Spaniard in the next round and did not especially appeared like he believed he could win. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to make up for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is those who were expecting the American to win, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a calm, reflective presence in press conferences, more so than virtually everyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just express his emotions or the strategy he felt determined a contest, but clarify 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 unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Division

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Group

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

“I’d probably dwell on it forever if I fail to accomplish it,” the American told a journalist in June of winning a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not achieve that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is actually extremely unlikely for everybody else. {