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I possess some thoughts about that remarks made by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz during the New York major last eight. Consider – Fritz is American, Fowler is American – and athletic competitions frequently encourage nationalism. A little bit of disappointment was understandable. Rather, Fowler brought up the continued drought of US male players at the majors: not one of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone love a narrative, myself included. But come on. Even if the American defeated the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the following match, who Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven grand slams (and Alcaraz went on to thrash a tired Serbian in the next round). Fritz said in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually preferred his draw, because it offered the chance to defeat the three best competitors in the sport in succession. He is more than within his right to aim for the achievement; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match who else in their right mind had the lack of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the only thing between her and consistent victories

Fritz, 28, is placed number four in the world entering this week’s year-end championships and has secured his previous six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a chasm of ranking points away. His top-class delivery and powerful power 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, he is often overmatched. The last several years has witnessed the interesting rise of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless cover the court with the surprising speed and grace of much shorter men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was controlling, and playing a soft shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That acts as a pretty severe limitation on his upside.

Fritz has made a number of significant, unexpected improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, competing against and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a aging Serbian, is the toughest of all. What could Fowler 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 US male players winning grand slams when Fritz had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the appreciation for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

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

Fritz’s performance in that exact last eight match ought to have been enough of an indication. Djokovic won in four sets, a win that only felt uncertain for moments towards the conclusion, when the American had survived a few match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American earning numerous chances to break. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the run to the point of frustration. When he eventually did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a horrendous service game to drop serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and compelled him to expend excessive effort to win it. Down set points in the final game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to the sky. He prolonged the contest two times on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, just a result of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly ironclad evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any form of Djokovic, that was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and did not particularly seem like he thought he could win. This is perfectly fine – the Serbian is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has developed enough knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is those who were expecting the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in media sessions, more so than almost anyone on the ATP except for the Russian star, prepared to not only say how he feels or the tactic he felt decided a match, but clarify it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Division

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

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” the American told an interviewer in the summer of winning a major. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is in fact highly unlikely for all other players. {