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I have a few opinions regarding that remarks made by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz in the US Open quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is American – and athletic competitions frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown would have been understandable. Instead, Fowler brought up the continued drought of US male players at the majors: none of them has won a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the competition.

Everyone love a narrative, me too. But come on. Suppose Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, whom he has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the previous seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard went on to defeat a tired Serbian in the next round). He stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually liked his draw, because it offered the chance to beat the three best players in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is more than justified to aim for the achievement; an competitor is supposed to believe in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final what other person sensibly had the drought of American champions in mind?

The American star's weaker delivery the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

The American, twenty-eight, is placed fourth in the world entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. Presumably he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that is as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class serve and powerful strength on both forehand and backhand are more than enough to defeat most opponents on the professional circuit. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is frequently helpless. The last several seasons has witnessed the interesting rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless move around with the alarming speed and fluidity of smaller players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement 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 soft shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a pretty severe limitation on his upside.

The American has achieved a number of significant, unexpected improvements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was approaching the top 10. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged up to No 4 – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and even a aging Serbian, is the toughest of all. What could Fowler have been 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 winning major titles when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the appreciation for the magnitude of the task insufficient.

Taylor Fritz achieved a career-best run to the Wimbledon last four in the summer.

The American's play in that exact last eight match should have been sufficient of an indication. The Serbian triumphed in four sets, a victory that only felt uncertain for moments towards the very end, when the American had survived a few championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz creating plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the run to the brink of frustration. When Fritz finally did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a terrible service game to lose his own serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a battle secondary to the real battle and compelled him to expend far too much effort to prevail. Facing match points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery sailed to heaven. He prolonged the contest twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a choke, in my opinion, just a consequence of needing to hit too many second serves.

The contest was quite ironclad proof that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of Djokovic, that lost to the Spaniard in the next round and did not particularly seem like he believed he could win. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is those who were anticipating Fritz to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that indicated he would.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in media sessions, more so than virtually everyone on the ATP except for the Russian star, willing to not only express how he feels or the strategy he believed determined a match, but explain it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America not produce a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

American legend Division

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Group

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

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I fail to accomplish it,” the American informed a journalist in the summer of winning a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is in fact highly improbable for everybody else. {