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I possess a few opinions regarding that comments delivered by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz in the New York major quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is from the US – and sports frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. Some letdown would have been understandable. Instead, he brought up the ongoing absence of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all enjoy a narrative, myself included. But come on. Suppose Fritz had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, who he has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he someway survived that, it would have been title holder the Italian, versus him the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the previous seven major titles (and the Spaniard went on to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact liked his draw, because it offered the opportunity to beat the three best competitors in the sport in succession. Fritz is well within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an competitor is supposed to have faith in themselves. But entering that Djokovic last eight match what other person in their right mind had the drought of American champions on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is ranked fourth in the global rankings entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he might take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that is as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a vast gap of ranking points away. His elite serve and concussive power on both front side and reverse side are more than enough to dispose of the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the select few generational talents, though, he is frequently overmatched. The past few years has witnessed the interesting rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless move around with the alarming speed and grace of much shorter men. He is six-foot-five and appears that way. His footwork is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom win a rally that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a drop shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a quite severe limitation on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a number of dramatic, improbable improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the top 30. Two years later, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and beating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and even a aging Serbian, is the toughest of all. What could Fowler thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the ongoing slump of American men lifting grand slams when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply too much and the appreciation for the magnitude of the task too little.

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

Fritz’s performance in that very last eight match ought to have been enough of an sign. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a win that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a couple match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz creating plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved break point after break point, prolonging the streak to the brink of agony. When he eventually did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a horrendous game to drop serve again; the Serbian had lulled him into a battle peripheral to the real battle and compelled him to expend excessive energy to prevail. Facing match points in the last game, his first serve floated to heaven. He prolonged the match twice on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a choke, in my opinion, just a result of needing to hit too many second serves.

The match was quite ironclad evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any version of Djokovic, that lost to the Spaniard in the following match and did not particularly seem like he thought he could win. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has acquired enough experience and tactical know-how to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is the individuals who were expecting Fritz to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that suggested he could.

The American is an asset to the circuit regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in press conferences, more so than almost everyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just express his emotions or the strategy he believed determined a contest, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Group

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

Swedish icon Group

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably think about it forever if I fail to do it,” the American told a journalist in the summer of winning a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable empire is actually extremely improbable for everybody else. {