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I have some opinions regarding that comments delivered by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz in the US Open last eight. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is from the US – and sports frequently lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of letdown was understandable. Rather, Fowler invoked the continued absence of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them had lifted a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone enjoy a narrative, myself included. But come on. Suppose Fritz had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, who he has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow survived 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 last seven major titles (and Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a tired Serbian in the next round). Fritz said in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually preferred his draw, because it presented the chance to beat the top three players in the sport in succession. Fritz is well within his right to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is supposed to have faith in themselves. But entering that Djokovic quarter-final who else sensibly had the drought of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier standing in her way and consistent victories

Fritz, 28, is ranked number four in the global rankings starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his previous six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that is as far as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of ranking points away. His elite delivery and concussive strength on both front side and reverse side are more than adequate to dispose of most opponents on the professional circuit. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is frequently helpless. The past few years has seen the curious rise of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless move around with the alarming quickness and grace of smaller men. He is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was dictating, and playing a drop shot against him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a pretty severe restriction on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a several significant, improbable advancements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was sniffing the top 10. The previous season, he suddenly surged to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What could Fowler thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing slump of US male players lifting grand slams when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

Taylor Fritz achieved a personal best run to the Wimbledon last four in the summer.

The American's performance in that very quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a win that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had survived a few match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American earning plenty of opportunities to break. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the streak 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 terrible service game to drop serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the real battle and forced him to expend excessive energy to prevail. Down set points in the last game, his first serve floated to the sky. He extended the match twice on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It was not a choke, in my opinion, just a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The match was fairly ironclad proof that Fritz is not good enough to beat any version of Djokovic, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and did not especially appeared like he thought he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has acquired sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were anticipating the American to prevail, and pressuring him to do so, when he was had not accomplished anything that indicated he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective voice in media sessions, more so than virtually anyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just express how he feels or the strategy he believed decided a match, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for America failing to spawn a male major champion since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

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 don’t accomplish it,” the American informed a journalist in June of claiming a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is actually extremely unlikely for all other players. {