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I possess some opinions regarding that remarks delivered by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz during the US Open quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents American, Fowler is from the US – and sports frequently encourage nationalism. A little bit of letdown was understandable. Instead, Fowler invoked the ongoing absence of US male players at the majors: not one of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone enjoy a storyline, me too. But really. Suppose Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the next round, whom he has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the previous seven major titles (and Alcaraz proceeded to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz said in press following his defeat that he actually liked his path, because it offered the chance to beat the three best players in the world in succession. He is more than justified to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final who else sensibly had the drought of US winners on the brain?

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

The American, twenty-eight, is ranked number four in the global rankings starting this week’s year-end championships and has secured his previous six matches over third-ranked the German with increasing ease. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that’s as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a chasm of performance metrics away. His top-class serve and powerful strength on each front side and reverse side are sufficiently enough to dispose of most rivals on the professional circuit. Against the handful of generational talents, though, he is frequently overmatched. The past few seasons has witnessed the curious emergence of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless move around with the surprising quickness and fluidity of smaller players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and playing a soft shot versus him is usually a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite harsh limitation on his upside.

The American has made a number of dramatic, improbable advancements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded up to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a declining Djokovic, is the highest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the ongoing drought of American men winning major titles 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.

The American star made a career-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 sign. Djokovic won in four rounds, a win that only felt uncertain for moments towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a few championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked well-balanced during the rallies, with the American earning plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the point of frustration. 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 drawn him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and compelled him to use excessive effort to win it. Facing match points in the last game, his primary delivery floated to the sky. He extended the match twice on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, only a consequence of having to hit too many second serves.

The match was fairly compelling proof that Fritz is not good enough to beat any version of Djokovic, who lost to Alcaraz in the next round and did not particularly seem like he believed he could triumph. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities anymore, but has developed sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is those who were anticipating Fritz to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective presence in press conferences, more so than virtually anyone on the men's tour except for the Russian star, willing to not only say his emotions or the strategy he believed determined a match, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for the United States failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can divide that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

American legend Division

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Division

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

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” the American informed a journalist in June of winning a major. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is actually highly unlikely for all other players. {