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I have some thoughts about the comments made by ESPN broadcaster a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz in the US Open quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents American, Fowler is American – and sports often lend themselves to nationalism. Some disappointment was understandable. Instead, Fowler invoked the continued absence of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the competition.

We all love a narrative, me too. But really. Even if Fritz defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, whom he has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d someway survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz went on to thrash a tired Serbian in the next round). Fritz stated in press following his defeat that he actually liked his path, because it offered the chance to beat the top three competitors in the sport in succession. He is more than justified to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match who else sensibly had the drought of US winners in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier standing in her way and consistent victories

Fritz, 28, is ranked fourth in the global rankings entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he might take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that is as far as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class serve and powerful strength on each front side and backhand are more than adequate to defeat the majority of rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is frequently overmatched. The last several seasons has witnessed the curious rise of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless move around with the surprising 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’ll rarely steal a point that the other player was dictating, and hitting a soft shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite severe limitation on his upside.

The American has achieved a number of dramatic, improbable improvements throughout his career. Early on of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was sniffing the top 10. The previous season, he suddenly exploded to fourth place – and held the position. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a aging Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What could the commentator have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing slump of US male players lifting major titles when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

Taylor Fritz achieved a personal best run to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

Fritz’s play in that exact last eight match should have been enough of an indication. The Serbian won in four rounds, a victory that only felt tenuous for moments towards the very end, when the American had saved a few match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with the American creating numerous chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved break point after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the brink of frustration. When he finally did claim a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a terrible service game to drop serve again; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and compelled him to use excessive effort to prevail. Facing set points in the final game, Fritz’s first serve floated to the sky. He extended the match two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, only a result of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly ironclad evidence that the American is not good enough to defeat any version of Djokovic, that was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and did not especially appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and might not be at the height of his athletic abilities now, but has developed sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The problem is those who were expecting the American to win, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective presence in media sessions, exceeding almost everyone on the men's tour aside from the Russian star, prepared to not just express how he feels or the strategy he felt determined a match, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for America not 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: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Group

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably dwell on it forever if I fail to do it,” the American told an interviewer in June of winning a major. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is actually highly unlikely for all other players. {