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I possess some thoughts regarding the remarks made by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz during the New York major last eight. Consider – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is from the US – and sports frequently lend themselves to nationalism. Some disappointment would have been appropriate. Instead, Fowler invoked the ongoing drought of US male players at the majors: none of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone love a storyline, me too. But come on. Suppose the American defeated the legend for the first time, force of nature the Spanish star was waiting in the next round, whom he has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And had he somehow gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven grand slams (and Alcaraz proceeded to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). He said in press following his defeat that he actually liked his path, because it offered the chance to beat the three best competitors in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is more than within his right to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But entering that Djokovic last eight match who else sensibly had the lack of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier between her and sustained success

The American, twenty-eight, is ranked number four in the global rankings starting the upcoming year-end championships and has won his last six encounters over third-ranked the German with increasing ease. It's likely he could take that spot 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 chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite serve and concussive power on each forehand and reverse side are more than adequate to dispose of most rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The last several seasons has seen the curious rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless move around with the surprising quickness and fluidity of much shorter players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the other player was dictating, and playing a soft shot against him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a quite harsh limitation on his upside.

The American has made a number of significant, improbable improvements over the years. Early on of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was approaching the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded up to No 4 – and held the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, Sinner, and even a declining Djokovic, is the highest of all. What was Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the ongoing slump of American men winning major titles when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just too much and the respect for the magnitude of the task too little.

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

The American's play 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 Fritz had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the rallies, with the American earning numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved break point after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the brink of frustration. When Fritz finally did claim one 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 drawn him into a battle secondary to the real battle and compelled him to expend excessive effort to prevail. Facing match points in the final game, his primary delivery floated to heaven. He prolonged the match twice on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, just a result of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The match was quite ironclad evidence that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of the Serbian, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the next round and never especially appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities now, but has developed sufficient experience and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he could.

The American is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in media sessions, more so than virtually everyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only express his emotions or the strategy he believed determined a match, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for the United States failing to spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Division

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” the American told a journalist in June of winning a major. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not fulfill that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is actually highly improbable for everybody else. {