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I have a few opinions about that comments made by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's win over the American player during the New York major last eight. Look – the athlete represents American, the commentator is from the US – and sports frequently lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of letdown was appropriate. Rather, he brought up the continued absence of US male players at the majors: not one of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone love a narrative, me too. But come on. Even if the American defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, who he has yet to beat in an official match. And had he somehow survived that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also divided the last seven major titles (plus Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a tired Serbian in the next round). Fritz stated in press after the loss that he in fact liked his draw, because it presented the chance to beat the three best competitors in the sport in succession. He is well within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an competitor is meant to believe in themselves. But entering that Djokovic quarter-final who else sensibly had the drought of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing between her and consistent victories

The American, 28, is placed number four in the global rankings starting the upcoming year-end championships and has won his last six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that is as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class serve and powerful strength on each front side and reverse side are sufficiently enough to dispose of most opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of generational talents, though, he is often overmatched. The last several years has seen the curious rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless move around with the surprising speed and fluidity of smaller players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and playing a soft shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty harsh restriction on his upside.

The American has achieved a number of dramatic, improbable improvements throughout his career. Early on of the ten-year period, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, competing against and beating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was Fowler thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing drought of US male players winning major titles when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task too little.

Taylor Fritz achieved a personal best advancement to the Wimbledon last four in July.

The American's performance in that very quarter-final ought to have been enough of an indication. Djokovic won in four sets, a win that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the very end, when the American had survived a couple match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz creating numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the brink of agony. When Fritz eventually did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a horrendous game to lose his own serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a battle secondary to the real battle and forced him to expend excessive energy to win it. Down match points in the final game, Fritz’s primary delivery sailed to heaven. He prolonged the contest twice on his second serve, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, only a result of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was quite ironclad evidence that Fritz is not good enough to beat any version of Djokovic, who lost to Alcaraz in the following match and never especially appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is perfectly fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating the American to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that indicated he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in media sessions, more so than virtually everyone on the ATP aside from the Russian star, willing to not only express how he feels or the strategy he felt determined a match, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for the United States failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, maybe they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

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

Swedish icon Division

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

“I’d probably think about it forever if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in the summer of winning a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is in fact highly unlikely for everybody else. {