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I possess a few opinions about that comments made by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz during the US Open last eight. Look – the athlete represents American, the commentator is American – and athletic competitions often encourage patriotic sentiment. Some letdown was understandable. Instead, Fowler invoked the ongoing absence of American men at the majors: none of them had lifted a title since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone love a storyline, me too. But come on. Even if Fritz had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, who Fritz has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven major titles (and Alcaraz went on to defeat a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). He stated in press after the loss that he actually liked his draw, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the three best players in the world in succession. He is well within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final who else sensibly had the drought of American champions on the brain?

The American star's second serve the sole barrier standing in her way and consistent victories

Fritz, 28, is ranked fourth in the world entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six encounters over third-ranked the German with growing comfort. Presumably he might take that spot for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as far as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of ranking points away. His elite delivery and powerful strength on both front side and backhand are sufficiently adequate to defeat most opponents on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of generational talents, though, he is often overmatched. The last several years has seen the interesting emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless move around with the alarming quickness and fluidity of much shorter men. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was controlling, and playing a soft shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty severe limitation on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a several significant, improbable advancements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the top 30. Two years after, he was approaching the top 10. The previous season, he suddenly exploded up to fourth place – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What was the commentator have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing drought of US male players lifting major titles when he had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the task too little.

The American star achieved a career-best advancement to the All England Club semi-finals in July.

Fritz’s performance in that exact quarter-final should have been enough of an sign. The Serbian triumphed in four sets, a win that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the conclusion, when the American had survived a few match points and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz earning plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved break point after break point, prolonging the run to the point of agony. When he eventually did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a terrible service game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and forced him to use excessive energy to win it. Down match points in the last game, his primary delivery floated to heaven. He prolonged the match two times on his second serve, but finally committed two errors. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, only a consequence of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The match was fairly ironclad evidence that the American is insufficiently skilled to beat any version of Djokovic, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and never especially appeared like he thought he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is those who were expecting the American to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not done anything that suggested he would.

The American is an valuable contributor to the tour regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in media sessions, exceeding almost everyone on the men's tour aside from the Russian star, willing to not only say his emotions or the strategy he believed decided a contest, but explain it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America not produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unjust. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Division

• The Italian champion
• 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 an interviewer in the summer of claiming a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is in fact highly improbable for everybody else. {