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I have a few opinions regarding that remarks made by ESPN broadcaster a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz in the New York major quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is American, the commentator is American – and athletic competitions frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. Some letdown would have been understandable. Instead, Fowler invoked the ongoing absence of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all love a storyline, myself included. But really. Even if the American defeated the legend for the first time, force of nature the Spanish star was waiting in the following match, whom he has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow gotten past 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 major titles (plus the Spaniard proceeded to defeat a tired Serbian in the next round). He stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually liked his draw, because it presented the chance to beat the three best players in the world in succession. Fritz is well within his right to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final who else in their right mind had the lack of American champions on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the sole barrier between her and sustained success

The American, 28, is placed number four in the world entering this week’s year-end championships and has won his last six matches over No 3 the German with growing comfort. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that’s as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a chasm of ranking points away. His top-class delivery and concussive strength on each forehand and reverse side are more than adequate to defeat most rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of generational talents, though, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The past few seasons has seen the interesting emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless move around with the surprising speed and grace of much shorter players. He is six-foot-five and appears that way. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the opponent was controlling, and playing a drop shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty harsh limitation on his upside.

The American has achieved a several significant, improbable improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. 24 months after, he was approaching the top 10. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged up to fourth place – and held the position. But the next leap, competing against and beating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a declining Djokovic, is the highest of all. What could the commentator have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing drought of American men winning major titles when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

The American star made a personal best advancement to the All England Club semi-finals in July.

Fritz’s play in that very quarter-final ought to have been enough of an indication. Djokovic won in four rounds, a win that only seemed tenuous for moments towards the very end, when the American had survived a few match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with the American earning plenty of opportunities to break. But Djokovic saved break point after service break opportunity, extending the run to the brink of frustration. When he eventually did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a horrendous service game to drop serve again; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and forced him to use excessive energy to win it. Down match points in the last game, his primary delivery sailed to the sky. He extended the match twice on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It was not a collapse, I didn’t think, just a consequence of needing to hit too many second serves.

The match was quite ironclad evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any version of the Serbian, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the following match and did not especially seem like he believed he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired enough experience and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The issue is those who were anticipating Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not accomplished anything that indicated he could.

The American is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective voice in press conferences, more so than virtually everyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just say how he feels or the tactic he felt decided a match, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for the United States not spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” Fritz told a journalist in the summer of claiming a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is actually extremely unlikely for all other players. {