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I have a few opinions about the remarks made by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz during the US Open last eight. Consider – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is from the US – and sports frequently lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of disappointment was appropriate. Rather, Fowler invoked the continued drought of US male players at the majors: none of them had lifted a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the competition.

We all enjoy a storyline, myself included. But really. Suppose Fritz defeated the legend for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the next round, who he has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard went on to defeat a tired Serbian in the next round). He said in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually liked his draw, because it presented the chance to beat the three best competitors in the world back-to-back. Fritz is well justified to aim for the achievement; an competitor is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final who else in their right mind had the lack of US winners on the brain?

The American star's second serve the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

The American, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the world entering the upcoming year-end championships and has won his last six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and concussive strength on both forehand and backhand are more than adequate to dispose of the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is frequently overmatched. The last several seasons has seen the interesting emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless cover the court with the alarming quickness and fluidity of much shorter men. Fritz is six-foot-five and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was controlling, and playing a drop shot versus him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty severe restriction on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a number of dramatic, improbable advancements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. 24 months later, he was sniffing the top 10. The previous season, he suddenly surged to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and even a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the continuing drought of American men winning grand slams when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the task too little.

The American star made a personal best run to the Wimbledon semi-finals in the summer.

The American's play in that exact last eight match should have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a win that only seemed tenuous for moments towards the conclusion, when the American had survived a few match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked evenly matched during the rallies, with the American creating plenty of opportunities to break. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the brink of agony. When Fritz finally did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a horrendous service game to drop serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and compelled him to expend far too much effort to prevail. Down match points in the final game, Fritz’s first serve floated to heaven. He prolonged the match two times on his second serve, but ultimately double-faulted. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, only a result of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was fairly compelling proof that Fritz is not good enough to beat any version of the Serbian, who lost to Alcaraz in the following match and never particularly seem like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired enough knowledge and tactical know-how to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The issue is those who were anticipating the American to win, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that indicated he would.

The American is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in media sessions, exceeding virtually everyone on the ATP aside from the Russian star, prepared to not only express how he feels or the strategy he felt determined a match, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for America not produce a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Division

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

“I’d probably dwell on it forever if I don’t do it,” the American informed an interviewer in the summer of claiming a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is actually highly unlikely for all other players. {