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I have a few thoughts about the comments made by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz during the New York major quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is American, Fowler is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently lend themselves to nationalism. Some letdown would have been understandable. Instead, he 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 Fritz had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone enjoy a storyline, myself included. But really. Suppose Fritz defeated the legend for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, who Fritz has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him Fritz had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven major titles (plus Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a tired Serbian in the next round). He stated in press after the loss that he in fact liked his draw, because it offered the opportunity to beat the three best players in the world back-to-back. He is more than justified to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match what other person sensibly had the drought of American champions in mind?

The American star's second serve the sole barrier between her and consistent victories

The American, twenty-eight, is ranked fourth in the world starting this week’s year-end championships and has won his previous six matches over No 3 the German with increasing ease. It's likely he could claim that position for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that’s as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of ranking points away. His top-class serve and powerful power on both forehand and reverse side are more than enough to dispose of the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is frequently helpless. The last several years has seen the interesting rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and grace of smaller players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was dictating, and hitting a soft shot against him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a quite severe limitation on his potential.

Fritz has made a number of significant, improbable improvements over the years. Early on of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly exploded to No 4 – and held the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a aging Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing drought of US male players lifting major titles when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the task insufficient.

The American star achieved a personal best run to the Wimbledon last four in the summer.

Fritz’s play in that exact quarter-final should have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic won in four rounds, a win that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had survived a few match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked evenly matched during the rallies, with the American creating numerous opportunities to break. But the champion saved 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 promptly played a terrible service game to drop serve once more; the Serbian 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 last game, his first serve sailed to heaven. He prolonged the match twice on his second serve, but ultimately 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 the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of the Serbian, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the next round and never particularly appeared like he believed he could win. This is perfectly fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has acquired sufficient experience and tactical know-how to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to accomplished anything that indicated he would.

The American is an asset to the tour regardless. 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 believed decided a match, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for America failing to spawn 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.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

American legend Group

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Division

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

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I don’t accomplish it,” Fritz told a journalist in the summer of winning a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he does not achieve that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is in fact extremely unlikely for all other players. {