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I have some thoughts regarding that remarks delivered by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz during the US Open last eight. Look – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is from the US – and sports frequently encourage nationalism. Some letdown would have been appropriate. Rather, he invoked the continued drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone love a storyline, myself included. But really. Suppose Fritz defeated Djokovic for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was looming in the following match, whom he has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And had he somehow survived that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a tired Djokovic in the next round). Fritz stated in press after the loss that he in fact preferred his draw, because it offered the opportunity to beat the three best competitors in the sport back-to-back. He is well within his right to aim for the achievement; an competitor is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final who else in their right mind had the lack of US winners in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier standing in her way and consistent victories

Fritz, 28, is placed number four in the global rankings starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six encounters over third-ranked the German with increasing ease. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as far as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite serve and powerful strength on each front side and backhand are sufficiently adequate to dispose of the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The last several years has witnessed the curious rise of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless move around with the surprising quickness and grace of much shorter men. He is six-foot-five and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was dictating, and hitting a drop shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That acts as a pretty severe limitation on his potential.

The American has achieved a number of significant, unexpected improvements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was sniffing the top 10. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged to No 4 – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and even a aging Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was Fowler have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the ongoing drought of US male players winning major titles when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the task too little.

The American star made a career-best run to the All England Club semi-finals in the summer.

Fritz’s play in that very last eight match ought to have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had survived a couple match points and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz creating numerous chances to break. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the point of frustration. When he eventually did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a horrendous game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and forced him to use far too much energy to win it. Facing set points in the last game, his primary delivery floated to heaven. He extended the match twice on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, just a result of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly compelling evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any version of Djokovic, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and never especially seem like he believed he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating the American to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in press conferences, exceeding almost everyone on the ATP aside from the Russian star, prepared to not only say his emotions or the strategy he believed decided a contest, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States not spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unjust. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz informed a journalist in June of winning a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he does not achieve that objective, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable empire is actually extremely improbable for everybody else. {