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I have some thoughts about that remarks made by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz in the US Open last eight. Look – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is from the US – and sports often encourage patriotic sentiment. Some letdown was appropriate. Rather, Fowler invoked the ongoing absence of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone love a narrative, me too. But come on. Suppose Fritz had beaten the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was looming in the next round, who Fritz has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven grand slams (and the Spaniard went on to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). He stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually liked his path, because it offered the opportunity to beat the three best players in the world in succession. He is well justified to aim for the achievement; an competitor is meant to believe in themselves. But entering that Djokovic quarter-final who else sensibly had the drought of US winners in mind?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing standing in her way and consistent victories

Fritz, 28, is ranked number four in the global rankings entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he might take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that’s as far as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and powerful strength on each front side and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to defeat the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of generational talents, though, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The last several years has witnessed the curious rise of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless cover the court with the alarming quickness and grace of smaller men. Fritz is six-foot-five and looks it. 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 against him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a pretty harsh restriction on his upside.

The American has achieved a number of significant, unexpected advancements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the top 30. Two years after, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly surged up to fourth place – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing slump of American men lifting grand slams when Fritz had departed 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 achieved a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon last four in July.

The American's play in that exact quarter-final ought to have been enough of an indication. Djokovic won in four sets, a win that only seemed tenuous for moments towards the conclusion, when Fritz had survived a few match points and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the rallies, with the American creating plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the run to the point of agony. When Fritz eventually did claim one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately played a terrible game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and compelled him to use far too much energy to win it. Facing match points in the final game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to the sky. He extended the match two times on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a collapse, I didn’t think, only a result of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly compelling proof that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any form of Djokovic, that lost to Alcaraz in the next round and never especially seem like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has acquired sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were expecting Fritz to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in press conferences, more so than virtually anyone on the ATP aside from the Russian star, prepared to not just say his emotions or the tactic he believed decided a contest, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for the United States failing to spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can share that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

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

Bjorn Borg Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably think about it forever if I fail to accomplish it,” the American told a journalist in June of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he does not achieve that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is in fact extremely unlikely for all other players. {