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I possess some thoughts about that remarks made by ESPN broadcaster Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz in the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is American – and sports frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment was appropriate. Instead, Fowler invoked 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 enjoy a narrative, me too. But really. Suppose Fritz defeated the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the next round, whom Fritz 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. The two young stars had also divided the last seven major titles (plus Alcaraz went on to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). He said in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually liked his draw, because it presented the chance to defeat the three best players in the world in succession. Fritz is well within his right to aim for the achievement; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But entering that Djokovic last eight match what other person sensibly had the lack of US winners in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed fourth in the global rankings starting this week’s year-end championships and has secured his last six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that is as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of ranking points away. His elite serve and powerful power on both forehand and backhand are more than enough to dispose of most rivals on the ATP tour. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is often helpless. The past few years has seen the interesting emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nevertheless move around with the surprising speed and grace of smaller players. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the other player was controlling, and hitting a soft shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a quite harsh limitation on his potential.

Fritz has made a number of significant, unexpected advancements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. 24 months after, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly exploded to No 4 – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and even a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing drought of American men lifting major titles when he had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

Taylor Fritz made a personal best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in the summer.

Fritz’s performance in that exact last eight match should have been enough of an sign. The Serbian triumphed in four sets, a victory that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a few match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz creating numerous opportunities to break. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after break point, extending the run to the brink of frustration. When Fritz finally did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately played a horrendous service game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and forced him to expend excessive energy to prevail. Down match points in the final game, Fritz’s first serve floated to the sky. He prolonged the contest two times on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, only a consequence of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite ironclad proof that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of Djokovic, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and did not especially seem like he believed he could win. This is perfectly fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has developed enough experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The problem is those who were expecting Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in media sessions, more so than virtually anyone on the men's tour aside from the Russian star, prepared to not only say his emotions or the strategy he felt decided a match, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Division

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz informed a journalist in June of claiming a major. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he does not fulfill that objective, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is in fact extremely improbable for all other players. {