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I have a few opinions about the remarks made by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer after the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz during the US Open quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is American, the commentator is from the US – and sports frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment would have been appropriate. Instead, Fowler brought up the ongoing absence of US male players at the majors: none of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

We all love a storyline, myself included. But really. Suppose Fritz defeated Djokovic for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the following match, who Fritz has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the previous seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz went on to defeat a tired Djokovic in the subsequent match). Fritz stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually preferred his path, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the top three players in the world in succession. He is more than justified to aim for the achievement; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the drought of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

The American, 28, is ranked number four in the global rankings entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six matches over No 3 the German with increasing ease. Presumably he could 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 lie a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class serve and concussive strength on both forehand and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to defeat most rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of generational talents, though, Fritz is often overmatched. The past few seasons has seen the interesting emergence of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless move around with the surprising speed and grace of smaller players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was controlling, and hitting a drop shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a pretty harsh restriction on his upside.

Fritz has made a number of significant, unexpected advancements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and even a aging Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was Fowler 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 American men lifting grand slams when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the task too little.

Taylor Fritz achieved a personal best advancement to the All England Club last four in July.

The American's play in that exact quarter-final should have been enough of an sign. Djokovic won in four sets, a win that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the conclusion, when the American had saved a few match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz earning plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after break point, extending the streak to the point of agony. When Fritz finally did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately produced a terrible service game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and forced him to use far too much energy to prevail. Facing match points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery sailed to heaven. He extended the contest twice on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, only a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The match was quite compelling proof that the American is insufficiently skilled to beat any form of the Serbian, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the following match and did not especially appeared like he thought he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the best player ever, and might not be at the height of his athletic abilities now, but has developed sufficient experience and tactical know-how to make up for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that indicated he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a patient, reflective voice in press conferences, more so than virtually anyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only express how he feels or the tactic he felt decided a match, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for America not spawn 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 divide that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Division

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

“I would likely think about it forever if I don’t accomplish it,” the American informed a journalist in the summer of winning a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is actually highly unlikely for everybody else. {