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I possess some opinions regarding that comments made by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz in the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is American – and athletic competitions frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment was understandable. Rather, Fowler brought up the ongoing drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

We all love a storyline, me too. But come on. Even if the American had beaten the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the next round, who Fritz has never defeated in an official match. And had he someway gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the last seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz went on to thrash a tired Djokovic in the subsequent match). Fritz stated in press after the loss that he in fact liked his path, because it presented the chance to beat the top three players in the world back-to-back. Fritz is well within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final who else 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 ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six matches over third-ranked the German with growing comfort. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that is as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of ranking points away. His elite serve and powerful strength on both front side and backhand are sufficiently enough to dispose of most rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of generational talents, though, Fritz is frequently helpless. The last several seasons has witnessed the curious rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless cover the court with the alarming speed and grace of smaller men. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the other player was dictating, and playing a drop shot versus him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite harsh restriction on his potential.

The American has made a several dramatic, improbable improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly surged up to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What could Fowler thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing slump of American men winning grand slams when Fritz had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the appreciation for the magnitude of the task 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 should have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic won in four rounds, a victory that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a few match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the rallies, with the American creating plenty of opportunities to break. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the brink 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 lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle peripheral to the real battle and forced him to use far too much effort to prevail. Facing match points in the last game, his first serve sailed to the sky. He extended the contest two times on his second serve, but ultimately double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, only a consequence of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly ironclad proof that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of Djokovic, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and never particularly seem like he thought he could win. This is perfectly fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, but has developed enough knowledge and tactical know-how to make up for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is the individuals who were anticipating the American to win, and pressuring him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he would.

The American is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective presence in media sessions, more so than almost everyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just say how he feels or the strategy he believed determined a contest, but clarify it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for America failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can divide that load.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

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

Bjorn Borg Group

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

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I don’t accomplish it,” Fritz informed a journalist in June of winning a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he does not fulfill that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is in fact highly unlikely for everybody else. {