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I possess a few thoughts about the comments made by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz during the US Open quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is from the US – and sports often encourage nationalism. A little bit of letdown would have been understandable. Rather, Fowler invoked the ongoing drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

We all love a storyline, me too. But come on. Even if Fritz had beaten the legend 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 had he somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven major titles (and the Spaniard went on to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the next round). He said in press after the loss that he actually liked his path, because it offered the opportunity to beat the top three competitors in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is well justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic last eight match who else sensibly had the lack of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the sole barrier between her and consistent victories

The American, 28, is placed number four in the world starting the upcoming year-end championships and has won his last six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that’s as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a chasm of ranking points away. His elite delivery and concussive power on each front side and backhand are sufficiently enough to defeat the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is frequently helpless. The past few years has witnessed the interesting emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless move around with the alarming quickness and fluidity of much shorter players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom win a rally that the opponent was dictating, and playing a drop shot versus him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite harsh limitation on his potential.

The American has achieved a several dramatic, unexpected improvements throughout his career. Early on of the ten-year period, he was circling the lower end of the top 30. Two years after, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he suddenly surged to fourth place – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and even a aging Serbian, is the toughest of all. What could the commentator have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the ongoing drought of American men winning grand slams when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

Taylor Fritz made a personal best advancement to the All England Club semi-finals in July.

The American's play in that very last eight match ought to have been enough of an indication. The Serbian won in four sets, 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 duo looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American creating plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the point of agony. When he eventually did claim one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a horrendous 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 effort to win it. Facing set points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery sailed to heaven. He prolonged the contest twice on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, only a result of needing to hit too many second serves.

The match was quite compelling evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any version of Djokovic, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and never particularly seem like he thought he could triumph. 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 developed sufficient experience and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is those who were anticipating Fritz to prevail, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he could.

The American is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in press conferences, more so than virtually anyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only express how he feels or the strategy he felt decided a match, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America not produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Group

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” Fritz told a journalist in the summer of winning a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying empire is in fact extremely improbable for everybody else. {