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I have some opinions about that comments made by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz in the New York major last eight. Look – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is from the US – and athletic competitions often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some letdown would have been appropriate. Instead, he invoked the ongoing drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone enjoy a narrative, me too. But really. Even if Fritz defeated Djokovic for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was looming in the next round, who he has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven grand slams (and the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a tired Djokovic in the next round). Fritz said in press following his defeat that he actually preferred his draw, because it presented the opportunity to beat the three best players in the sport back-to-back. He is well within his right to aim for the accomplishment; an competitor is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic last eight match what other person sensibly had the lack of American champions in mind?

The American star's second serve the only thing between her and consistent victories

Fritz, twenty-eight, is ranked number four in the global rankings entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that at present, that is as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of ranking points away. His elite delivery and concussive power on both forehand and reverse side are more than adequate to dispose of most rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is frequently helpless. The past few seasons has seen the interesting rise of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless cover the court with the surprising speed and fluidity of much shorter players. He is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the opponent was controlling, and playing a drop shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite severe limitation on his upside.

Fritz has made a several significant, unexpected advancements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the top 30. 24 months later, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly surged up to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What could the commentator have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the ongoing slump of US male players winning grand slams when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the task too little.

The American star achieved a personal best run to the Wimbledon semi-finals in the summer.

The American's performance in that very last eight match should have been enough of an indication. Djokovic triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only felt tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had saved 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 numerous chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after break point, extending the run to the point of frustration. When he eventually did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a terrible game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and compelled him to use far too much energy to win it. Facing match points in the final game, Fritz’s first serve floated to the sky. He prolonged the contest twice on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, only a result of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite ironclad evidence that the American is not good enough to beat any form of the Serbian, that lost to Alcaraz in the next round and never especially 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 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 the individuals who were expecting Fritz to win, and pressuring him to do so, when he was had not done anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in press conferences, exceeding virtually everyone on the men's tour aside from the Russian star, willing to not only express how he feels or the strategy he felt determined a contest, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for America not spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Division

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Group

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” the American told an interviewer in June of claiming a major. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not achieve that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying empire is actually highly unlikely for everybody else. {