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I have some opinions about that comments delivered by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz in the US Open last eight. Look – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is American – and sports frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. Some letdown would have been appropriate. Instead, Fowler brought up 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 competition.

Everyone enjoy a narrative, me too. But come on. Suppose the American defeated the legend for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the next round, who he has yet to beat in an official match. And had he somehow gotten past that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the last seven grand slams (and Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the next round). Fritz said in press following his defeat that he actually preferred his draw, because it offered the opportunity to defeat the top three competitors in the sport back-to-back. He is well within his right to aim for the accomplishment; an competitor is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final who else in their right mind had the drought of US winners in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the only thing between her and consistent victories

The American, 28, is placed number four in the global rankings starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that’s as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and concussive strength on both forehand and reverse side are more than adequate to dispose of most rivals on the professional circuit. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The past few years has witnessed the curious rise of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless move around with the alarming speed and grace of much shorter players. Fritz is six-foot-five and looks it. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom win a rally that the opponent was dictating, and playing a drop shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a pretty severe restriction on his upside.

Fritz has made a several dramatic, unexpected advancements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly surged up to fourth place – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and even a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What could Fowler thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the continuing slump of American men lifting grand slams when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the appreciation for the magnitude of the task too little.

Taylor Fritz made a career-best advancement to the All England Club last four in the summer.

Fritz’s play in that exact quarter-final should have been enough of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a win that only felt uncertain for moments towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American earning plenty of chances to break. But Djokovic rescued break point after service break opportunity, extending the run to the point of agony. When he finally did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a terrible service game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle peripheral to the real battle and forced him to use far too much effort to win it. Facing match points in the last game, his primary delivery sailed to the sky. He prolonged the contest two times on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It was not a collapse, I didn’t think, only a result of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was quite ironclad evidence that Fritz is not good enough to defeat any form of Djokovic, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the next round and did not particularly seem like he thought he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – the Serbian is the best player ever, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has acquired enough experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The problem is those who were expecting the American to win, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he would.

The American is an asset to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in press conferences, more so than virtually anyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only express how he feels or the tactic he believed decided a match, but explain it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for the United States not produce 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 share that burden.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Group

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

Bjorn Borg Division

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

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I don’t do it,” Fritz told a journalist in the summer of winning a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not fulfill that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is in fact highly unlikely for all other players. {