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I possess a few thoughts regarding that remarks delivered by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player in the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is American – and sports often lend themselves to nationalism. Some letdown would have been appropriate. Rather, he invoked the continued absence of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the tournament.

We all love a narrative, myself included. But really. Even if the American defeated the legend for the first time, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the next round, who he has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven grand slams (and the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a tired Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually preferred his draw, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the three best players in the sport back-to-back. He is well justified to aim for the achievement; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match what other person in their right mind had the lack of US winners on the brain?

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

Fritz, twenty-eight, is ranked number four in the global rankings starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his previous six matches over No 3 the German with increasing ease. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that is as high as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of ranking points away. His elite serve and powerful power on each forehand and reverse side are more than enough to defeat the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of generational talents, however, Fritz is often helpless. The last several years has seen the interesting emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless move around with the surprising speed and fluidity of much shorter players. Fritz is six-foot-five and looks it. His footwork is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and hitting a drop shot against him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a pretty harsh restriction on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a number of dramatic, improbable advancements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the top 30. 24 months later, he was approaching the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly surged to fourth place – and held the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a declining 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 worth commenting on the ongoing slump of US male players winning major titles when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the appreciation for the magnitude of the task too little.

Taylor Fritz made a career-best run to the Wimbledon last four in the summer.

Fritz’s performance in that very last eight match should have been enough of an sign. Djokovic won in four rounds, a win that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had survived a few match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo looked well-balanced during the rallies, with the American earning numerous chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued break point after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the brink of agony. When Fritz eventually did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a terrible game to drop serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle secondary to the main contest and compelled him to expend far too much energy to win it. Facing set points in the final game, his primary delivery floated to heaven. He extended the contest twice on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It was not a collapse, I didn’t think, only a consequence of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly ironclad evidence that the American is not good enough to beat any version of Djokovic, that lost to the Spaniard in the following match and never especially appeared like he thought he could win. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, but has developed enough experience and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is those who were anticipating Fritz to prevail, and pressuring him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he would.

The American is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective presence in media sessions, more so than virtually everyone on the men's tour aside from the Russian star, willing to not just express how he feels or the tactic he felt decided a contest, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for America failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unjust. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Group

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I don’t accomplish it,” Fritz told an interviewer in June of claiming a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is in fact extremely improbable for everybody else. {