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I have some opinions about that remarks made by ESPN broadcaster Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's victory over the American player in the New York major last eight. Look – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is from the US – and athletic competitions often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown would have been understandable. Instead, he invoked the ongoing drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: none of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the competition.

Everyone enjoy a storyline, myself included. But really. Suppose Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, who Fritz has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard went on to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). He stated in press following his defeat that he in fact liked his path, because it offered the chance to beat the top three competitors in the sport in succession. Fritz is more than within his right to aim for the achievement; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But entering that Djokovic last eight match what other person sensibly had the lack of US winners in mind?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the sole barrier between her and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is placed fourth in the global rankings starting this week’s year-end championships and has won his last six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. Presumably he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and concussive power on both forehand and reverse side are more than enough to dispose of the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the select few generational talents, however, he is often helpless. The last several seasons has seen the curious emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless cover the court with the surprising speed and fluidity of much shorter players. Fritz is six-foot-five and appears that way. 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 controlling, and playing a soft shot against him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a pretty severe restriction on his potential.

The American has achieved a several dramatic, improbable advancements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged up to No 4 – and held the spot. But the next leap, competing against and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a aging Djokovic, is the highest of all. What was Fowler thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the continuing drought of American men lifting major titles when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

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

The American's performance in that very quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic won in four rounds, a victory that only seemed tenuous for moments towards the conclusion, when the American had saved a few championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz creating plenty of chances to break. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the run to the brink of agony. When he finally did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a terrible service game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle secondary to the main contest and forced him to expend far too much effort to win it. Down set points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve floated to the sky. He prolonged the match two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, just a consequence of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly compelling proof that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of Djokovic, who lost to Alcaraz in the following match and did not particularly appeared like he believed he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his physical powers anymore, but has developed sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is those who were anticipating the American to win, and pressuring him to do so, when he was had not done anything that indicated he would.

The American is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective voice in media sessions, exceeding almost everyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only express how he feels or the strategy he believed decided a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for America failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I don’t do it,” Fritz informed a journalist in the summer of winning a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is actually extremely unlikely for all other players. {