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I have some thoughts regarding the remarks delivered by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's win over the American player in the US Open last eight. Look – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is American – and athletic competitions often lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of disappointment would have been understandable. Instead, Fowler invoked the continued 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 tournament.

We all enjoy a narrative, me too. But come on. Suppose Fritz defeated 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 competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the last seven major titles (and Alcaraz proceeded to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the next round). Fritz said in press after the loss that he actually preferred his path, because it offered the chance to defeat the top three players in the world back-to-back. He is well justified to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But entering that Djokovic last eight match who else in their right mind had the lack of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing between her and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is ranked fourth in the global rankings starting this week’s year-end championships and has won his previous six matches 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 is as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of ranking points away. His elite serve and concussive power on each forehand and reverse side are sufficiently enough to dispose of most opponents on the ATP tour. Against the select few generational talents, though, Fritz is often helpless. The last several seasons has seen the curious rise of tall, gangly players who can nevertheless cover the court with the surprising speed and fluidity of smaller players. Fritz is six-foot-five and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was dictating, and hitting a drop shot versus him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite harsh limitation on his upside.

The American has achieved a several dramatic, unexpected advancements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was approaching the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly surged to No 4 – and held the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a aging Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was Fowler thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing slump of US male players lifting major titles when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply too much and the respect for the magnitude of the task too little.

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

Fritz’s performance in that exact last eight match ought to have been enough of an sign. The Serbian won in four rounds, a win that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz creating plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the streak to the point of frustration. When he eventually did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately produced a terrible service game to drop serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and forced him to use far too much effort to prevail. Facing set points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to heaven. He extended the match twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, just a result of having to hit too many second serves.

The match was fairly compelling proof that the American is not good enough to defeat any form of Djokovic, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and did not especially appeared like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has acquired enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is those who were expecting the American to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he would.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in press conferences, more so than virtually everyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just say his emotions or the tactic he felt decided a contest, but explain it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the responsibility for the United States failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Division

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” the American informed a journalist in the summer of claiming a major. 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 reign is in fact highly unlikely for all other players. {