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I possess some thoughts regarding the remarks made by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz during the US Open last eight. Consider – the athlete represents American, Fowler is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently encourage nationalism. A little bit of disappointment would have been understandable. Rather, Fowler invoked the continued absence of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them had lifted a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

Everyone enjoy a narrative, me too. But come on. Suppose the American had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the next round, who Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And had he someway gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a tired Djokovic in the next round). Fritz said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact liked his path, because it presented the chance to beat the three best players in the world back-to-back. He is more than within his right to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is supposed to believe in themselves. But entering that Djokovic last eight match who else sensibly had the lack of US winners on the brain?

The American star's weaker delivery the sole barrier between her and sustained success

The American, twenty-eight, is ranked fourth in the world entering this week’s year-end championships and has secured his previous six encounters over third-ranked the German with growing comfort. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that is as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. His top-class delivery and powerful strength on each forehand and backhand are sufficiently adequate to defeat the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is often overmatched. The past few seasons has seen the interesting emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless move around with the alarming speed and fluidity of much shorter players. Fritz is six-foot-five and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was dictating, and playing a drop shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a pretty severe restriction on his potential.

Fritz has made a several dramatic, improbable improvements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly exploded to No 4 – and held the position. But the next leap, mixing it up with and beating legendary figures like Alcaraz, Sinner, and even a declining Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing drought of American men lifting grand slams when he had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

Taylor Fritz made a career-best run to the Wimbledon last four in the summer.

The American's play in that exact quarter-final should have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian won in four sets, a victory that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the very end, when Fritz had survived a few match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz earning numerous opportunities to break. But Djokovic rescued break point after service break opportunity, extending the run to the brink of frustration. When Fritz eventually did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a terrible service game to drop serve again; the Serbian had lulled him into a battle secondary to the main contest and forced him to expend far too much effort to win it. Down set points in the final game, his first serve sailed to heaven. He extended the match two times on his second serve, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, only a result of needing to hit too many second serves.

The contest was fairly compelling evidence that the American is not good enough to beat any version of the Serbian, that was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and never especially seem like he believed he could win. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired enough experience and tactical know-how to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is those who were anticipating Fritz to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in media sessions, more so than virtually everyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just say how he feels or the tactic he believed determined a contest, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for the United States not produce a male major champion since the last American titlist seems unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Division

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Division

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably think about it forever if I fail to do it,” Fritz told a journalist in June of claiming a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not achieve that goal, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is actually highly unlikely for everybody else. {