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I have some opinions about that comments delivered by ESPN broadcaster Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz in the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is American – and sports frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment was understandable. Instead, he invoked the ongoing 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.

We all enjoy a narrative, me too. But really. Even if the American defeated the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, whom Fritz has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him the American had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven grand slams (and the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a tired Serbian in the next round). He said in press after the loss that he in fact liked his path, because it offered the chance to defeat the top three competitors in the sport in succession. He is more than within his right to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic last eight match who else sensibly had the lack of US winners in mind?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed fourth in the global rankings entering this week’s year-end championships and has won his last six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that’s as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class serve and powerful strength on each front side and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to defeat most opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is often helpless. The last several seasons has seen the curious rise of lanky, towering athletes who can nevertheless cover the court with the surprising speed and fluidity of smaller men. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork 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 soft shot versus him is usually a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite harsh restriction on his upside.

The American has made a several significant, unexpected advancements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was sniffing the top 10. The previous season, he unexpectedly exploded up to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing slump of American men lifting major titles when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

Taylor Fritz achieved a personal best run to the All England Club last four in July.

Fritz’s play in that very quarter-final should have been sufficient of an indication. The Serbian triumphed in four sets, a victory that only felt tenuous for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had survived a few championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz creating numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued break point after break point, extending the run to the brink of frustration. When Fritz eventually did claim a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a terrible service game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and forced him to use excessive effort to win it. Facing set points in the final game, his primary delivery floated to the sky. He extended the contest twice on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, just a result of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was quite compelling proof that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any version of the Serbian, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and never especially seem like he thought he could win. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is those who were expecting the American to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in press conferences, more so than virtually everyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just express his emotions or the strategy he felt determined a contest, but explain it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for the United States failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can share that burden.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Division

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Group

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

“I’d probably think about it forever if I fail to do it,” Fritz informed a journalist in the summer of claiming a grand slam. It is hoped he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is actually highly improbable for everybody else. {