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I have some opinions about that comments made by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's win over the American player during the New York major last eight. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is American – and athletic competitions often encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown was appropriate. Instead, he brought up the ongoing drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: none of them has won a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

We all love a narrative, myself included. But really. Even if Fritz defeated the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, whom he has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, versus him the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven grand slams (and Alcaraz went on to thrash a tired Serbian in the subsequent match). He stated in press following his defeat that he actually liked his draw, because it offered the opportunity to defeat the top three competitors in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is well within his right to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final who else in their right mind had the drought of US winners in mind?

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

Fritz, 28, is ranked fourth in the world starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his previous six encounters over No 3 the German with increasing ease. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that at present, that is as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of performance metrics away. His elite serve and powerful strength on both front side and reverse side are more than enough to defeat most rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is often overmatched. The past few seasons has witnessed the curious rise of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and fluidity of much shorter men. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was dictating, and playing a soft shot against him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a quite harsh limitation on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a number of dramatic, unexpected advancements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the lower end of the top 30. 24 months later, he was approaching the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly surged to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a declining Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was Fowler have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing slump of US male players winning major titles when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply too much and the appreciation for the magnitude of the challenge insufficient.

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

Fritz’s play in that very quarter-final ought to have been enough of an indication. The Serbian triumphed in four sets, a victory that only felt tenuous for moments towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a few championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American earning plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved break point after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the point of frustration. When he finally did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a horrendous game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and compelled him to use far too much effort to prevail. Down set points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to the sky. He prolonged the match twice on his second serve, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, just a consequence of having to hit too many second serves.

The match was quite ironclad evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of Djokovic, who lost to Alcaraz in the following match and never particularly seem like he believed he could win. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has acquired enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that indicated he would.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective presence in press conferences, more so than virtually everyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only express how he feels or the tactic he felt determined a match, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for America not spawn a male major champion since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Group

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

Bjorn Borg Division

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz told a journalist in June of claiming a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is in fact highly unlikely for all other players. {