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I have some thoughts about the comments delivered by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz during the New York major last eight. Consider – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is from the US – and sports often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment was appropriate. Instead, he invoked the ongoing drought of US male players at the majors: not one 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 enjoy a narrative, myself included. But really. Even if the American had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was looming in the next round, who he has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, versus him the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a tired Djokovic in the next round). Fritz said in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually preferred his path, because it offered the opportunity to beat the top three players in the world in succession. Fritz is more than justified to aim for the achievement; an competitor is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match who else in their right mind had the lack of US winners in mind?

The American star's weaker delivery the sole barrier between her and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is ranked fourth in the global rankings entering the upcoming year-end championships and has secured his last six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that’s as far as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of ranking points away. His elite serve and concussive strength on both forehand and reverse side are more than adequate to defeat most opponents on the ATP tour. When facing the select few generational talents, however, he is frequently overmatched. The last several seasons has seen the curious rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless move around with the alarming quickness and fluidity of smaller players. Fritz is six-foot-five and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and playing a drop shot against him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a pretty harsh restriction on his potential.

Fritz has made a several dramatic, improbable improvements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the top 30. Two years after, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly exploded up to No 4 – and held the spot. But the next leap, competing against and beating legendary figures like Alcaraz, Sinner, and even a aging Djokovic, is the highest of all. What could Fowler thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing slump of US male players lifting grand slams when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

Taylor Fritz achieved a personal best run to the All England Club semi-finals in the summer.

The American's performance in that very quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian won in four rounds, a win that only seemed tenuous for moments towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a few match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American earning numerous opportunities to break. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after break point, extending the streak to the point of agony. When he eventually did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a terrible game to drop serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the real battle and compelled him to use far too much effort to prevail. Down match points in the last game, his first serve floated to heaven. He prolonged the match two times on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, only a result of having to hit too many second serves.

The match was quite ironclad proof that the American is not good enough to beat any version of Djokovic, who lost to Alcaraz in the next round and never especially seem like he believed he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has acquired enough knowledge and tactical know-how to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The issue is those who were expecting Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective presence in media sessions, exceeding almost anyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only express how he feels or the tactic he believed determined a match, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America failing to spawn a male major champion since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

American legend Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Group

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” the American informed an interviewer in June of claiming a grand slam. It is hoped he understands that he’s not a failure if he does not fulfill that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is in fact highly unlikely for everybody else. {