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I possess a few thoughts regarding the remarks made by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player in the New York major quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is American, Fowler is American – and sports often lend themselves to nationalism. Some letdown was appropriate. Instead, he invoked the ongoing absence of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the competition.

Everyone love a narrative, me too. But really. Even if Fritz had beaten the legend for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the next round, who he has yet to beat in an official match. 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. The two young stars had also divided the last seven grand slams (and Alcaraz went on to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). He stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually preferred his path, because it offered the opportunity to defeat the three best players in the sport back-to-back. He is well within his right to aim for the achievement; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the lack of American champions on the brain?

The American star's weaker delivery the only thing between her and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is placed number four in the global rankings entering this week’s year-end championships and has secured his previous six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that is as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of ranking points away. His elite delivery and powerful strength on each forehand and backhand are sufficiently enough to dispose of most rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the select few generational talents, though, he is often overmatched. The last several seasons has seen the curious rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless cover the court with the alarming quickness and fluidity of much shorter men. Fritz is six-foot-five and looks it. His footwork is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and playing a soft shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a quite harsh limitation on his upside.

The American has achieved a several dramatic, unexpected improvements over the years. Early on of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly surged up to No 4 – and held the position. But the next leap, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What was Fowler thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing slump of US male players lifting grand slams when Fritz had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply too much and the respect for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

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

The American's performance in that exact quarter-final should have been enough of an indication. The Serbian triumphed in four sets, a win that only felt tenuous for moments towards the conclusion, when Fritz had survived a couple match points and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American earning plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued break point after break point, prolonging the streak to the point of frustration. When Fritz finally did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a horrendous service game to drop serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and compelled him to expend excessive effort to prevail. Down match points in the final game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to heaven. He prolonged the match twice on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, just a result of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite ironclad proof that the American is not good enough to defeat any version of Djokovic, that lost to Alcaraz in the following match and did not especially seem like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – 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 tactical know-how to make up for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is those who were anticipating Fritz to prevail, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he would.

The American is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in media sessions, exceeding virtually everyone on the men's tour except for the Russian star, prepared to not only express how he feels or the tactic he believed determined a match, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for the United States failing to produce a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

American legend Group

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Group

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

“I’d probably think about it forever if I don’t accomplish it,” the American told an interviewer in June of claiming a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is in fact highly unlikely for everybody else. {