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I possess some thoughts about the remarks delivered by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz in the US Open quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is from the US – and athletic competitions often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment would have been appropriate. Rather, he brought up the continued absence of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

We all enjoy a narrative, myself included. But really. Even if Fritz defeated the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, who he has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard went on to thrash a tired Serbian in the next round). He stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact liked his draw, because it offered the opportunity to beat the three best players in the world back-to-back. He is more than justified to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But entering that Djokovic last eight match who else sensibly had the drought of US winners in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the only thing between her and consistent victories

The American, 28, is placed number four in the global rankings entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his previous six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that is as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a vast gap of ranking points away. His top-class serve and concussive strength on each front side and backhand are sufficiently adequate to dispose of most opponents on the professional circuit. Against the handful of generational talents, though, he is frequently helpless. The past few seasons has seen the curious rise of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless move around with the surprising quickness and fluidity of much shorter men. Fritz is six-foot-five and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the other player was controlling, and hitting a soft shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite severe restriction on his upside.

Fritz has made a number of dramatic, 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 approaching the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly surged to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and even a aging Serbian, is the toughest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing drought of US male players lifting major titles when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task too little.

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

Fritz’s performance in that very last eight match ought to have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic won in four sets, a victory that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz creating plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the brink of agony. When he eventually did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a horrendous service game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and forced him to use excessive energy to prevail. Facing set points in the last game, his first serve sailed to heaven. He extended the match twice on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, only a result of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly compelling evidence that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of Djokovic, that was defeated by the Spaniard in the following match and did not especially seem like he believed he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the best player ever, and might not be at the height of his physical powers anymore, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to win, and pressuring him to do so, when he was yet to accomplished anything that indicated he would.

The American is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in media sessions, exceeding almost everyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just express how he feels or the strategy he believed determined a contest, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for the United States not spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Group

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

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I don’t do it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in June of winning a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is in fact extremely unlikely for all other players. {