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I have a few thoughts regarding the remarks delivered by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's victory over the American player in the US Open last eight. Look – the athlete represents American, Fowler is from the US – and sports frequently lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of letdown would have been understandable. Rather, he brought up the ongoing drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all love a storyline, me too. But come on. Even if the American defeated Djokovic for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, who he has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the previous seven major titles (plus the Spaniard went on to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact preferred his path, because it presented the chance to beat the three best competitors in the world in succession. He is more than within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an competitor is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic last eight match what other person sensibly had the drought of US winners in mind?

The American star's weaker delivery the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

The American, 28, is ranked number four in the global rankings entering this week’s year-end championships and has won his last six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that’s as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite serve and concussive strength on each front side and backhand are more than adequate to defeat the majority of rivals on the ATP tour. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is often overmatched. The past few years has witnessed the curious rise of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless move around with the surprising speed and fluidity of much shorter men. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and hitting a drop shot versus him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite severe restriction on his potential.

Fritz has made a number of dramatic, improbable advancements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded to No 4 – and held the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What was the commentator have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the ongoing drought of American men lifting major titles when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the appreciation for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

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

The American's play in that very quarter-final should have been sufficient of an indication. The Serbian triumphed in four sets, a victory that only felt tenuous for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American earning numerous opportunities to break. But the champion saved service break opportunity after break point, extending the run to the point of agony. When Fritz finally did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately produced a horrendous service game to lose his own serve again; the Serbian had lulled him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and compelled him to use excessive effort to prevail. Facing match points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to the sky. He prolonged the contest two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, only a result of needing to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was quite compelling proof that the American is not good enough to beat any form of Djokovic, that lost to the Spaniard in the following match and did not particularly seem like he thought he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities anymore, but has developed sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is those who were anticipating the American to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the tour regardless. He’s a patient, reflective voice in press conferences, more so than virtually anyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just say how he feels or the strategy he felt decided a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for the United States failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

American legend Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in June of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he does not fulfill that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is in fact extremely improbable for all other players. {