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I possess some thoughts about that comments made by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz in the New York major quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is from the US – and sports frequently encourage nationalism. A little bit of letdown was understandable. Rather, he invoked the continued drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them has won a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the competition.

Everyone enjoy a storyline, me too. But really. Suppose Fritz had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven grand slams (and the Spaniard proceeded to defeat a tired Djokovic in the next round). He stated in post-match interviews after the loss that he in fact liked his draw, because it presented the chance to beat the three best competitors in the world in succession. He is well within his right to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But entering that Djokovic quarter-final what other person sensibly had the drought of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the only thing between her and consistent victories

Fritz, 28, is placed fourth in the global rankings entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his previous six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he might take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that’s as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class serve and powerful strength on both front side and reverse side are more than enough to dispose of most opponents on the ATP tour. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is frequently helpless. The past few years has witnessed the curious emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nevertheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and fluidity of much shorter players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a soft shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty severe limitation on his potential.

The American has achieved a number of dramatic, unexpected advancements throughout his career. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. Two years later, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged to No 4 – and held the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and even a declining Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What could Fowler thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing drought of US male players winning major titles when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just too much and the respect for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

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

The American's performance in that exact last eight match ought to have been enough of an sign. Djokovic won in four sets, a win that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had survived a few match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the rallies, with the American creating numerous chances to break. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after break point, extending the streak to the point of agony. When he finally did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a horrendous service game to lose his own serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and compelled him to use far too much effort to win it. Facing match points in the final game, his primary delivery floated to heaven. He extended the match two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, only a consequence of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite compelling proof that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of the Serbian, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and did not especially seem like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his physical powers anymore, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is the individuals who were expecting the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in media sessions, more so than almost anyone on the ATP aside from the Russian star, prepared to not just express how he feels or the strategy he believed decided a contest, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for the United States failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably dwell on it forever if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz told an interviewer in the summer of claiming a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable empire is actually highly unlikely for all other players. {