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I have a few opinions regarding that remarks made by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's win over the American player during the US Open quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is American – and sports frequently encourage nationalism. Some letdown would have been appropriate. Instead, he brought up the ongoing absence of American men at the majors: none of them has won a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

Everyone love a storyline, myself included. But come on. Suppose the American had beaten the legend for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him Fritz had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven major titles (and Alcaraz went on to thrash a tired Djokovic in the next round). Fritz said in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually liked his draw, because it offered the chance to beat the three best players in the world in succession. He is well within his right to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match what other person in their right mind had the drought of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier between her and consistent victories

Fritz, 28, is ranked fourth in the world entering the upcoming year-end championships and has won his last six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he could claim that position for himself in the future. But evidently that at present, that’s as high as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. His top-class delivery and powerful power on both front side and backhand are sufficiently enough to defeat the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of generational talents, though, Fritz is frequently helpless. The last several years has seen the interesting rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless move around with the alarming quickness and grace of much shorter players. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a soft shot versus him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty severe limitation on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a number of dramatic, improbable advancements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. Two years after, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly surged up to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing drought of American men lifting major titles when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the task too little.

The American star made a career-best run to the All England Club semi-finals in the summer.

The American's play in that exact quarter-final ought to have been enough of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a win that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the conclusion, when Fritz had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American earning plenty of chances to break. But the champion saved break point after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the point of frustration. When he eventually did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a terrible game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and compelled him to use far too much energy to win it. Facing match points in the final game, Fritz’s primary delivery sailed to the sky. He prolonged the match twice on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, only a result of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly compelling evidence that Fritz is not good enough to beat any version of Djokovic, that lost to Alcaraz in the next round and never particularly seem like he believed he could win. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the best player ever, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities anymore, but has developed sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The issue is the individuals who were anticipating the American to win, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that suggested he would.

The American is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in press conferences, more so than virtually anyone on the men's tour except for the Russian star, prepared to not just express how he feels or the tactic he believed determined a contest, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for America not spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely dwell on it indefinitely if I don’t accomplish it,” the American informed an interviewer in the summer of winning a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not a failure if he does not achieve that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is actually extremely improbable for everybody else. {