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I possess some thoughts about that remarks made by ESPN broadcaster Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz during the US Open last eight. Look – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is American – and athletic competitions often encourage patriotic sentiment. Some letdown would have been appropriate. Instead, he brought up the ongoing absence of US male players at the majors: not one of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the tournament.

We all love a narrative, me too. But come on. Even if the American had beaten the legend for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, who Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d someway survived that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also divided the last seven major titles (plus the Spaniard went on to thrash a tired Djokovic in the subsequent match). He stated in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually liked his draw, because it offered the opportunity to beat the top three players in the world back-to-back. Fritz is more than justified to aim for the achievement; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final what other person sensibly had the lack of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

The American, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the world entering this week’s year-end championships and has secured his previous six encounters over No 3 the German with increasing ease. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that is as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class serve and powerful strength on each front side and backhand are more than enough to defeat the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is often overmatched. The last several seasons has seen the curious rise of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless cover the court with the alarming speed and grace of much shorter men. 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 steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and hitting a drop shot against him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a pretty severe limitation on his potential.

Fritz has made a several dramatic, unexpected advancements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly surged to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a declining Djokovic, is the highest of all. What was the commentator have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing drought of American men winning major titles when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just too much and the respect for the difficulty of the task too little.

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

The American's performance in that very last eight match should have been enough of an indication. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only felt uncertain for moments towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz earning plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the brink of agony. When he finally did claim a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a horrendous service game to drop serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and compelled him to use excessive effort to win it. Facing match points in the final game, Fritz’s primary delivery sailed to the sky. He prolonged the contest twice on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, just a consequence of needing to hit too many second serves.

The match was fairly compelling proof that the American is insufficiently skilled to beat any form of Djokovic, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and never particularly appeared like he believed he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has developed enough knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is those who were anticipating the American to win, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that indicated he could.

Fritz is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in press conferences, exceeding almost anyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just express his emotions or the tactic he believed decided a match, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America failing to spawn a male major champion since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, maybe they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I fail to do it,” the American told an interviewer in the summer of winning a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable empire is actually extremely improbable for all other players. {