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I possess some thoughts about that comments made by ESPN broadcaster Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz in the New York major quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is from the US – and athletic competitions often encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown was understandable. Instead, he brought up the ongoing drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: none of them had lifted a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the competition.

We all love a narrative, me too. But really. Suppose Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was waiting in the next round, whom he has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d someway survived that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, versus him the American had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven major titles (plus the Spaniard went on to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). He said in press following his defeat that he actually preferred his draw, because it offered the opportunity to defeat the three best players in the sport in succession. Fritz is more than within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an competitor is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic last eight match what other person in their right mind had the drought of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is ranked fourth in the global rankings starting the upcoming year-end championships and has won his last six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. Presumably he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as far as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. His elite serve and concussive strength on both forehand and backhand are more than enough to dispose of the majority of rivals 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 tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and grace of much shorter players. Fritz is six-foot-five and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and hitting a soft shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a quite harsh limitation on his potential.

Fritz has made a several significant, unexpected improvements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. 24 months after, he was sniffing the top 10. The previous season, he suddenly surged up to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the next leap, competing against and beating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the continuing slump of American men winning major titles when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply too much and the appreciation for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

Taylor Fritz made a career-best run to the Wimbledon last four in July.

The American's play in that very quarter-final should have been enough of an sign. The Serbian won in four sets, a win that only felt tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a few match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with the American creating numerous chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved break point after break point, extending the run to the point of frustration. When Fritz finally did claim one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a horrendous game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and compelled him to expend excessive effort to win it. Down match points in the final game, his first serve floated to the sky. He prolonged the contest two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, just a result of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was quite ironclad evidence that the American is not good enough to defeat any version of Djokovic, who lost to Alcaraz in the next round and did not particularly seem like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities now, but has developed sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The issue is the individuals who were expecting the American to prevail, and pressuring him to do so, when he was yet to accomplished anything that indicated he would.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in media sessions, exceeding virtually everyone on the men's tour except for the Russian star, prepared to not just express how he feels or the tactic he believed determined a match, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the blame for the United States not produce a male major champion since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Division

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely think about it forever if I don’t accomplish it,” the American informed an interviewer in June of winning a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not fulfill that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable empire is actually extremely improbable for all other players. {