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I have some thoughts about the remarks made by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz in the New York major quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is American, the commentator is American – and sports often lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of disappointment was understandable. Rather, he invoked the ongoing drought of US male players at the majors: not one of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the competition.

Everyone enjoy a narrative, myself included. But come on. Even if the American had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the next round, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him the American had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the last seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard went on to defeat a tired Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually preferred his path, because it offered the opportunity to beat the three best competitors in the sport in succession. Fritz is more than within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final who else sensibly had the drought of American champions on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing standing in her way and consistent victories

Fritz, 28, is ranked fourth in the world starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that is as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite delivery and concussive power on both front side and reverse side are sufficiently enough to dispose of the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is frequently helpless. The last several years has seen the interesting rise of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless move around with the surprising quickness and grace of much shorter players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was dictating, and playing a soft shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a pretty harsh restriction on his upside.

The American has achieved a number of dramatic, unexpected improvements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly exploded up to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a declining Djokovic, is the highest 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 appropriate commenting on the ongoing slump of American men lifting major titles when Fritz had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just too much and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

Taylor Fritz made a personal best advancement to the All England Club last four in the summer.

The American's play in that exact last eight match should have been enough of an sign. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had survived a couple match points and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz creating plenty of chances to break. But the champion saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the brink of agony. When Fritz finally did claim one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a horrendous service game to drop serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and forced him to use far too much energy to prevail. Facing set points in the final game, Fritz’s primary delivery sailed to heaven. He prolonged the match twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, only a consequence of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite ironclad evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any form of the Serbian, who lost to the Spaniard in the next round and did not especially appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has developed enough experience and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is those who were anticipating Fritz to win, and pressuring him to do so, when he was yet to accomplished anything that indicated he would.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in press conferences, more so than almost everyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just say how he feels or the tactic he felt determined a match, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the responsibility for the United States failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

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

Swedish icon Division

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I don’t accomplish it,” the American told an interviewer in the summer of winning a major. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is actually highly unlikely for all other players. {