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I have some opinions about that remarks delivered by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz during the US Open quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is from the US – and athletic competitions often encourage nationalism. Some letdown was understandable. Rather, he invoked the continued absence of American men at the majors: none of them had lifted a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

We all love a storyline, me too. But come on. Suppose the American defeated Djokovic for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, who Fritz has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven major titles (and the Spaniard proceeded to defeat a fatigued Djokovic in the next round). He said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually preferred his draw, because it offered the opportunity to beat the three best competitors in the sport back-to-back. He is well within his right to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But entering that Djokovic last eight match who else in their right mind had the lack of American champions in mind?

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

The American, 28, is ranked fourth in the global rankings entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his previous six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that’s as far as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. His top-class serve and concussive power on both forehand and reverse side are sufficiently enough to defeat most rivals on the professional circuit. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is frequently overmatched. The past few seasons has seen the interesting rise of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless move around with the surprising speed and grace of smaller men. He is six-foot-five and appears that way. His movement is rigid, 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 soft shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite severe restriction on his upside.

The American has achieved a several significant, improbable improvements throughout his career. 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. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded up to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What could the commentator have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing drought of American men winning major titles when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply too much and the appreciation for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

The American star achieved a personal best run to the Wimbledon last four in July.

Fritz’s play in that exact last eight match should have been enough of an indication. Djokovic won in four sets, a victory that only felt tenuous for moments towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a couple match points and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz creating numerous chances to break. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the brink of frustration. When Fritz finally did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a terrible service game to lose his own serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and forced him to use far too much energy to prevail. Down set points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve floated to heaven. He extended the contest twice on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, only a consequence of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was quite compelling evidence that the American is not good enough to beat any form of the Serbian, that was defeated by the Spaniard in the following match and did not particularly appeared like he believed he could win. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and might not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has acquired sufficient experience and tactical know-how to make up for a significant portion of the drop-off. The problem is those who were anticipating Fritz to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in press conferences, more so than virtually everyone on the ATP aside from the Russian star, prepared to not just express how he feels or the tactic he felt determined a match, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States failing to produce a male major champion since the last American titlist feels unjust. (Since the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, maybe they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• 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’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz told a journalist in June of winning a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he does not fulfill that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is actually extremely unlikely for all other players. {