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I have some opinions regarding that comments delivered by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz in the New York major quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is American, Fowler is American – and athletic competitions frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment would have been appropriate. Rather, he brought up the ongoing drought of US male players at the majors: not one of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all love a storyline, myself included. But come on. Even if the American had beaten the legend for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the next round, who Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d someway survived that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven major titles (and the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a tired Djokovic in the next round). Fritz stated in press following his defeat that he in fact preferred his path, because it offered the opportunity to beat the three best players in the world back-to-back. He is well justified to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match who else sensibly had the drought of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the only thing between her and sustained success

The American, 28, is placed number four in the global rankings starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six matches over No 3 the German with growing comfort. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that is as high as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a chasm of ranking points away. His top-class serve and powerful power on both front side and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to dispose of most rivals on the ATP tour. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is often helpless. The last several years has seen the interesting rise of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless cover the court with the surprising speed and fluidity of smaller players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and hitting a soft shot versus him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite severe restriction on his potential.

The American has made a several significant, unexpected improvements over the years. Early on of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly surged to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and beating legendary figures like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a declining Djokovic, is the highest of all. What could Fowler thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing drought of American men winning grand slams when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the appreciation for the magnitude of the task insufficient.

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

Fritz’s play in that exact quarter-final ought to have been enough of an sign. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a win that only felt uncertain for moments towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the rallies, with the American creating plenty of chances to break. But the champion saved service break opportunity after break point, extending the streak to the brink of frustration. When he eventually did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a terrible service game to drop serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and compelled him to expend excessive effort to win it. Down set points in the final game, his primary delivery sailed to heaven. He prolonged the match twice on his second serve, but finally committed two errors. It was not a choke, in my opinion, only a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was fairly compelling evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of the Serbian, that was defeated by the Spaniard in the following match and never particularly seem like he thought he could win. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the height of his physical powers anymore, but has developed enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were expecting the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he would.

The American is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in media sessions, more so than almost anyone on the ATP aside from the Russian star, willing to not just express his emotions or the tactic he believed decided a match, but explain it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for America failing to produce a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Since the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I don’t accomplish it,” the American told an interviewer in the summer of claiming a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is actually extremely improbable for all other players. {