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I have a few opinions about that comments made by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz during the US Open quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents American, Fowler is from the US – and sports frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment would have been understandable. Rather, he invoked the ongoing drought of American men at the majors: not one of them had lifted a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

Everyone love a narrative, myself included. But really. Suppose Fritz defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, who Fritz has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the previous seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard proceeded to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz said in press after the loss that he actually preferred his draw, because it presented the opportunity to beat the top three players in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is more than within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic last eight match who else in their right mind had the lack 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 number four in the global rankings starting the upcoming year-end championships and has won his last six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the future. But evidently that at present, that’s as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. His top-class delivery and powerful strength on both front side and reverse side are sufficiently enough to dispose of most opponents on the professional circuit. Against the handful of generational talents, however, he is frequently overmatched. The last several seasons has seen the interesting emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless move around with the alarming speed and grace of much shorter players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His footwork is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was controlling, and playing a drop shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That acts as a pretty harsh limitation on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a number of significant, improbable advancements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the lower end of the top 30. 24 months later, he was approaching the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What was the commentator have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the continuing drought of US male players winning major titles when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

Taylor Fritz achieved a career-best run to the Wimbledon semi-finals in the summer.

Fritz’s performance in that exact quarter-final should have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only felt uncertain for moments towards the conclusion, when Fritz had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz creating plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the run to the brink of frustration. When he finally did claim a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a horrendous game to drop serve again; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and compelled him to use far too much energy to prevail. Down match points in the final game, his primary delivery floated to the sky. He prolonged the match two times on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It was not a choke, in my opinion, only a consequence of needing to hit too many second serves.

The match was fairly ironclad evidence that the American is not good enough to defeat any version of Djokovic, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the next round and never particularly appeared like he thought he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has acquired enough experience and tactical know-how to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were expecting Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not done anything that indicated he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in media sessions, exceeding virtually anyone on the men's tour except for the Russian star, prepared to not only say his emotions or the tactic he believed determined a match, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for America failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

American legend Group

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

Swedish icon Group

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I don’t do it,” Fritz told an interviewer in June of claiming a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not achieve that objective, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is in fact extremely improbable for all other players. {