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I possess some opinions regarding that comments delivered by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz during the New York major quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is American, the commentator is American – and sports frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some letdown was appropriate. Instead, Fowler brought up the continued absence of American men at grand slam tournaments: none of them has won a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all enjoy a narrative, myself included. But come on. Suppose Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was looming in the following match, whom he has never defeated in an official match. And had he someway survived that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz went on to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact preferred his draw, because it offered the chance to defeat the top three competitors in the sport in succession. He is well justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an competitor is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final who else in their right mind had the drought of American champions on the brain?

The American star's second serve the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

The American, twenty-eight, is ranked number four in the global rankings starting the upcoming year-end championships and has secured his previous six matches over No 3 the German with growing comfort. Presumably he might claim that position for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class serve and powerful power on both forehand and reverse side are sufficiently enough to defeat most opponents on the ATP tour. Against the handful of generational talents, though, Fritz is often helpless. The past few years has witnessed the curious emergence of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless move around with the alarming quickness and fluidity of smaller players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was dictating, and playing a drop shot against him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a quite severe limitation on his upside.

Fritz has made a number of significant, improbable improvements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the top 30. Two years after, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he suddenly surged up to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the next leap, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a aging Serbian, is the toughest 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 drought of US male players 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 task too little.

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

Fritz’s play in that very last eight match ought to have been enough of an sign. Djokovic won in four rounds, a victory that only felt uncertain for moments towards the very end, when the American had saved a couple 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 win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved break point after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the brink of frustration. When he finally did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a horrendous service game to drop serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and forced him to expend excessive energy to win it. Facing match points in the final game, his primary delivery floated to the sky. He prolonged the match twice on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, just a consequence of having to hit too many second serves.

The contest was quite compelling evidence that the American is not good enough to beat any version of Djokovic, that lost to the Spaniard in the next round and never particularly appeared like he thought he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has acquired enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in press conferences, exceeding almost everyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just say his emotions or the tactic he felt determined a match, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for America failing to produce a male major champion since the last American titlist seems unjust. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I don’t do it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in June of winning a major. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not a failure if he does not achieve that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is in fact extremely improbable for everybody else. {