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I have some thoughts about the remarks made by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz in the US Open last eight. Consider – the athlete represents American, Fowler is from the US – and athletic competitions often encourage nationalism. Some disappointment would have been appropriate. Instead, Fowler brought up the ongoing drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all love a narrative, myself included. But come on. Suppose the American defeated the legend for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the next round, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d someway survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz went on to defeat a tired Serbian in the subsequent match). He stated in press after the loss that he in fact liked his path, because it presented the chance to beat the three best competitors in the sport in succession. Fritz is well within his right to aspire to the achievement; an athlete 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 on the brain?

The American star's second serve the sole barrier between her and consistent victories

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the world starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his previous six encounters over No 3 the German with growing comfort. It's likely he could claim that position for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that is as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite serve and concussive strength on both forehand and reverse side are more than enough to defeat the majority of rivals on the ATP tour. Against the handful of generational talents, though, he is often helpless. The past few seasons has seen the interesting emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and grace of much shorter players. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the other player was controlling, and playing a drop shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a quite severe limitation on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a number of dramatic, unexpected improvements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly surged up to fourth place – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and even a aging Djokovic, is the highest of all. What could Fowler thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing slump of American men lifting grand slams 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 challenge too little.

The American star made a career-best run to the Wimbledon last four in the summer.

Fritz’s performance in that very last eight match should have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz creating plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the run to the point of agony. When Fritz finally did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately produced a terrible game to lose his own serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle secondary to the main contest and forced him to expend excessive effort to prevail. Facing set points in the final game, his primary delivery sailed to the sky. He prolonged the contest twice on his second serve, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, only a result of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite ironclad evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any version of Djokovic, who lost to Alcaraz in the following match and did not especially seem like he believed he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – the Serbian is the best player ever, and might not be at the height of his athletic abilities now, but has developed enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is those who were expecting the American to win, and pressuring him to do so, when he was had not done anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in press conferences, exceeding almost everyone on the men's tour aside from the Russian star, prepared to not only say how he feels or the strategy he felt decided a contest, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for the United States not spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

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

Bjorn Borg Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz informed a journalist in the summer of winning a major. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable empire is actually highly improbable for all other players. {