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I have a few opinions about the comments delivered by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz during the US Open last eight. Consider – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is from the US – and sports frequently lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of letdown was appropriate. Rather, he brought up the ongoing drought of US male players at the majors: none of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone love a narrative, myself included. But really. Even if the American defeated the legend for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was looming in the next round, who Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he somehow gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven grand slams (and Alcaraz proceeded to defeat a tired Serbian in the next round). He stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact preferred his path, because it presented the chance to defeat the top three players in the sport in succession. Fritz is well within his right to aim for the achievement; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian last eight match what other person in their right mind had the drought of American champions on the brain?

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

The American, 28, is ranked fourth in the global rankings starting the upcoming year-end championships and has secured his previous six matches over third-ranked the German with growing comfort. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that is as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite serve and concussive strength on both forehand and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to defeat most opponents on the ATP tour. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is often overmatched. The past few years has seen the interesting rise of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless move around with the alarming quickness and fluidity of smaller men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His footwork is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was controlling, and playing a drop shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a quite severe limitation on his upside.

The American has made a number of dramatic, unexpected improvements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. 24 months after, he was sniffing the top 10. The previous season, he unexpectedly exploded to fourth place – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a aging Djokovic, is the highest of all. What was Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, 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 major titles when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the respect for the difficulty of the task too little.

Taylor Fritz achieved a personal best run to the All England Club semi-finals in the summer.

The American's performance in that very quarter-final should have been enough of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a win that only felt tenuous for moments towards the conclusion, when Fritz had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz earning plenty of opportunities to break. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the run to the point of agony. When he eventually did claim a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a horrendous service game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and compelled him to expend excessive energy to prevail. Down set points in the final game, his primary delivery floated to heaven. He extended the match two times on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, only a consequence of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was quite ironclad proof that the American is not good enough to beat any form of Djokovic, that lost to Alcaraz in the following match and did not especially seem like he believed he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – Djokovic is the best player ever, and might not be at the height of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective voice in press conferences, more so than virtually anyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just express his emotions or the strategy he felt determined a contest, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for the United States not produce a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

American legend Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely think about it forever if I don’t do it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in June of claiming a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not fulfill that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is actually highly unlikely for everybody else. {