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I possess some opinions about the remarks made by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz in the New York major quarter-finals. Consider – Fritz is American, the commentator is American – and athletic competitions often lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of disappointment would have been understandable. Instead, Fowler invoked the ongoing absence of American men at the majors: not one of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all enjoy a storyline, myself included. But come on. Suppose the American had beaten the legend for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, who Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, versus him the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven grand slams (and the Spaniard went on to thrash a tired Djokovic in the next round). He said in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually liked his path, because it presented the chance to defeat the three best competitors in the world back-to-back. Fritz is more than justified to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match who else sensibly had the drought of US winners on the brain?

The American star's second serve the only thing between her and sustained success

The American, 28, is ranked number four in the world entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his previous six encounters over No 3 the German with growing comfort. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that right now, that is as far as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of ranking points away. His elite serve and concussive power on both forehand and reverse side are more than adequate to dispose of the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is often overmatched. The past few years has seen the curious rise of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless move around with the alarming quickness and grace of smaller men. He is six-foot-five and appears that way. His footwork is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he seldom win a rally that the opponent was controlling, and playing a soft shot against him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a quite severe limitation on his upside.

Fritz has made a several significant, unexpected advancements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the top 30. 24 months after, he was approaching the top 10. The previous season, he unexpectedly exploded to No 4 – and held the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a declining Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What could Fowler thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing drought of US male players lifting grand slams when Fritz had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just too much and the respect for the difficulty of the task too little.

Taylor Fritz achieved a career-best run to the Wimbledon semi-finals in the summer.

The American's performance in that very quarter-final ought to have been enough of an indication. Djokovic won in four rounds, a victory that only felt tenuous for moments towards the very end, when the American had survived a couple match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz creating numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved break point after break point, extending the run to the brink of agony. When he eventually did claim one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a terrible game to lose his own serve once more; the Serbian had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and forced him to use excessive effort to win it. Down set points in the last game, his first serve floated to heaven. He extended the contest twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, only a consequence of needing to hit too many second serves.

The match was quite compelling proof that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of Djokovic, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and did not especially seem like he thought he could win. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has developed enough knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The problem is those who were anticipating the American to win, and pressuring him to do so, when he was had not done anything that suggested he could.

The American is an asset to the circuit regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in press conferences, more so than virtually anyone on the men's tour aside from the Russian star, willing to not just express how he feels or the tactic he believed determined a match, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for the United States not spawn a male major champion since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Division

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

Swedish icon Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” Fritz told a journalist in June of winning a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is actually highly improbable for everybody else. {