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I possess a few opinions regarding the remarks made by ESPN broadcaster Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz during the US Open last eight. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is American – and sports frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown would have been understandable. Rather, Fowler brought up the continued absence of American men at the majors: not one of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

We all enjoy a narrative, me too. But really. Even if Fritz defeated the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting 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 defending champion the Italian, against whom the American had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the last seven major titles (plus the Spaniard went on to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). He said in post-match interviews after the loss that he in fact preferred his draw, because it presented the chance to beat the top three players in the world in succession. He is well within his right to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final who else sensibly had the drought of American champions on the brain?

The American star's second serve the sole barrier between her and consistent victories

The American, 28, is ranked number four in the global rankings starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. Presumably he might take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that’s as high as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. His elite delivery and concussive power on each front side and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to dispose of most opponents on the ATP tour. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is often helpless. The past few years has witnessed the curious emergence of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless move around with the surprising speed and grace of much shorter players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the other player was controlling, and hitting a drop shot against him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a pretty severe restriction on his potential.

Fritz has made a number of dramatic, unexpected advancements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the top 30. 24 months later, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly exploded up to No 4 – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What could the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing drought of US male players lifting grand slams when Fritz had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the respect for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

Taylor Fritz achieved a career-best advancement to the All England Club semi-finals in July.

Fritz’s play in that exact last eight match should have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a win that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the very end, when the American had survived a few match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American earning plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued break point after break point, extending the streak to the brink of agony. When Fritz eventually did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a horrendous game to drop serve again; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and forced him to use far too much effort to prevail. Facing set points in the final game, Fritz’s first serve floated to the sky. He extended the match twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, just a consequence of needing to hit too many second serves.

The contest was quite compelling evidence that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of the Serbian, that was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and never especially appeared like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has developed enough experience and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The problem is those who were expecting Fritz to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he would.

The American is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in press conferences, exceeding virtually everyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only express how he feels or the tactic he felt determined a match, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for America not produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Group

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

“I would likely think about it forever if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz told a journalist in the summer of claiming a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not achieve that goal, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is in fact extremely improbable for everybody else. {