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I have a few opinions about that comments delivered by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer after the Serbian champion's win over the American player during the New York major quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents American, the commentator is American – and athletic competitions frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment was understandable. Rather, Fowler invoked the ongoing drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: 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 competition.

Everyone enjoy a narrative, myself included. But come on. Even if Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming 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 the American had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz proceeded to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the next round). He stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually preferred his draw, because it presented the opportunity to beat the top three players in the sport in succession. He is well justified to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But entering that Djokovic quarter-final who else sensibly had the lack of US winners in mind?

The American star's second serve the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is ranked number four in the global rankings starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six matches over No 3 the German with growing comfort. Presumably he might claim that position for himself in the future. But evidently that at present, that’s as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s elite delivery and concussive power on both front side and reverse side are sufficiently enough to dispose of the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of generational talents, however, Fritz is frequently helpless. The last several seasons has witnessed the interesting emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nevertheless move around with the surprising speed and fluidity of smaller players. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was dictating, and hitting a drop shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a pretty harsh limitation on his potential.

The American has made a several dramatic, unexpected advancements over the years. Early on of the ten-year period, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly surged to fourth place – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a aging Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was Fowler thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing slump of US male players lifting grand slams when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply excessive and the appreciation for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

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

Fritz’s play in that exact quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic won in four sets, a win that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz earning numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the run to the brink of frustration. When Fritz eventually did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately played a terrible service game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle secondary to the real battle and forced him to expend excessive energy to win it. Facing set points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to the sky. He prolonged the contest twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, just a consequence of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was quite compelling evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any form of Djokovic, that lost to Alcaraz in the following match and did not especially seem like he thought he could win. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the tour regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in media sessions, exceeding almost everyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just express how he feels or the tactic he felt determined a match, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for America not spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unjust. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Division

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Group

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely think about it forever if I fail to accomplish it,” the American told an interviewer in June of winning a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he does not achieve that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable empire is actually extremely improbable for all other players. {