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I have a few thoughts regarding the remarks made by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz during the New York major quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is from the US – and sports often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment was appropriate. Rather, Fowler invoked the ongoing drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the competition.

Everyone love a narrative, myself included. But really. Even if the American defeated Djokovic for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And had he somehow survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him Fritz had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the previous seven grand slams (and Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the next round). He stated in post-match interviews after the loss that he in fact liked his path, because it offered the chance to defeat the three best competitors in the sport back-to-back. He is well within his right to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final who else sensibly had the lack of US winners on the brain?

The American star's weaker delivery the only thing between her and consistent victories

Fritz, 28, is ranked number four in the global rankings starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six matches over third-ranked the German with growing comfort. It's likely he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that’s as far as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite delivery and concussive strength on both front side and reverse side are more than adequate to defeat most rivals on the professional circuit. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is often overmatched. The past few years has seen the curious rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless move around with the surprising speed and grace of much shorter players. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His footwork is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the other player was dictating, and hitting a drop shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty harsh limitation on his upside.

Fritz has made a several significant, unexpected 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 after, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged to No 4 – and held the spot. But the next leap, competing against and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a aging Serbian, is the toughest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing drought of American men lifting major titles when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge insufficient.

Taylor Fritz achieved a career-best advancement to the All England Club semi-finals in the summer.

The American's play in that exact last eight match should have been enough of an indication. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a win that only felt uncertain for moments towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a couple match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz creating plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the streak to the brink of agony. When Fritz eventually did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a terrible service game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle secondary to the main contest and forced him to expend far too much energy to prevail. Facing set points in the final game, his first serve sailed to heaven. He prolonged the match two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a collapse, I didn’t think, just a consequence of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite ironclad evidence that the American is not good enough to beat any version of Djokovic, that lost to Alcaraz in the following match and never especially seem like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has developed enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating the American to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that suggested he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective presence in press conferences, exceeding virtually anyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only express his emotions or the tactic he felt determined a contest, but explain it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for America failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I don’t accomplish it,” the American informed a journalist in the summer of claiming a major. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is actually extremely improbable for all other players. {