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I have a few thoughts about the comments delivered by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player during the New York major last eight. Look – the athlete represents American, the commentator is American – and sports often lend themselves to nationalism. Some disappointment would have been understandable. Rather, Fowler invoked the continued drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the competition.

We all enjoy a narrative, myself included. But really. Suppose Fritz defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the next round, whom he has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d someway survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven grand slams (and the Spaniard proceeded to defeat a fatigued Djokovic in the next round). He said in post-match interviews after the loss that he in fact preferred his path, because it presented the chance to defeat the three best players in the sport back-to-back. He is more than justified to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is supposed to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final who else sensibly had the lack of US winners in mind?

The American star's second serve the sole barrier standing in her way and consistent victories

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed fourth in the global rankings starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he might take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that right now, that’s as high as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a vast gap of ranking points away. His elite serve and concussive power on both front side and backhand are sufficiently enough to dispose of most rivals on the professional circuit. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is often helpless. The last several years has witnessed the interesting rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless cover the court with the surprising speed and fluidity of much shorter players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was controlling, and playing a drop shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a quite harsh limitation on his upside.

Fritz has made a several dramatic, unexpected improvements over the years. Early on of the decade, 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 exploded to No 4 – and held the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What was Fowler thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the ongoing slump of US male players winning grand slams when Fritz had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply 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.

Fritz’s play in that exact quarter-final should have been enough of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a win that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the very end, when the American had saved a few match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American earning plenty of opportunities to break. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the point of agony. When he eventually did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately produced a horrendous game to drop serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the real battle and compelled him to expend far too much energy to win it. Down set points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve floated to the sky. He prolonged the contest twice on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, only a result of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly compelling evidence that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of Djokovic, who lost to the Spaniard in the next round and did not particularly appeared like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the best player ever, and may not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has developed enough experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is the individuals who were expecting the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that indicated he could.

The American is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in media sessions, exceeding virtually everyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just say his emotions or the tactic he believed determined a contest, but explain it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for America failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unjust. (Since the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe 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

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I don’t accomplish it,” Fritz told an interviewer in June of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not achieve that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is in fact extremely improbable for everybody else. {