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I possess a few thoughts regarding the remarks made by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz in the US Open last eight. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is American – and athletic competitions often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment would have been appropriate. Instead, he invoked the continued absence of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

We all love a narrative, myself included. But come on. Suppose the American defeated the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, who he has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he someway survived that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven major titles (plus the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the next round). He stated in post-match interviews after the loss that he in fact preferred his draw, because it offered the opportunity to defeat the three best players in the sport in succession. He is more than within his right to aim for the achievement; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match who else in their right mind had the drought of US winners in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier between her and consistent victories

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the world starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six encounters over No 3 the German with increasing ease. Presumably he might take that spot for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that at present, that’s as high as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite serve and powerful power on both front side and backhand are more than adequate to dispose of most rivals on the ATP tour. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is frequently helpless. The last several years has witnessed the interesting rise of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and grace of smaller men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the other player was controlling, and hitting a soft shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite severe restriction on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a number of significant, improbable improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the bottom of the top 30. Two years later, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he suddenly exploded up to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, competing against and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a aging Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing slump of US male players lifting grand slams when Fritz had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the respect for the difficulty of the task too little.

Taylor Fritz made a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

The American's play in that very quarter-final ought to have been enough of an sign. Djokovic won in four rounds, a win that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had survived a few match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the rallies, with the American creating plenty of chances to break. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the run to the point of frustration. When Fritz finally did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately played a terrible service game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a battle secondary to the main contest and compelled him to use far too much energy to win it. Facing set points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery sailed to heaven. He prolonged the match twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, only a result of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly compelling proof that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of the Serbian, that lost to Alcaraz in the following match and did not particularly seem like he thought he could win. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the best player ever, and might not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The issue is the individuals who were expecting the American to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that suggested he could.

The American is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a patient, reflective voice in press conferences, exceeding virtually anyone on the ATP except for the Russian star, willing to not only express how he feels or the tactic he believed determined a match, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the blame for the United States failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

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

Swedish icon Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably think about it forever if I fail to do 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 goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying empire is actually extremely improbable for all other players. {