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I possess some opinions about the remarks delivered by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz during the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is American – and sports often encourage nationalism. A little bit of disappointment was appropriate. Rather, he brought up the ongoing drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all enjoy a storyline, myself included. But come on. Suppose Fritz defeated Djokovic for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, whom Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder the Italian, versus him the American had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the last seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz went on to defeat a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). He said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact preferred his draw, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the three best competitors in the world in succession. Fritz is well justified to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is supposed to believe 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 only thing standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is placed fourth in the global rankings entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he might take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that right now, that is as far as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of performance metrics away. His elite delivery and powerful power on both front side and reverse side are more than enough to defeat most opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the select few generational talents, though, Fritz is frequently helpless. The past few years has seen the curious emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nevertheless move around with the surprising quickness and fluidity of smaller players. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom win a rally that the opponent was dictating, and hitting a soft shot against him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a quite severe limitation on his upside.

The American has made a several significant, unexpected advancements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the top 30. 24 months later, he was approaching the top 10. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged to fourth place – and held the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing drought of US male players winning major titles when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

The American star made a career-best advancement to the All England Club last four in the summer.

Fritz’s play in that very last eight match ought to have been enough of an indication. Djokovic won in four rounds, a win that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had survived a few match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz creating numerous chances to break. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after break point, extending the streak to the brink of agony. When he finally did convert a single of the chances 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 peripheral to the main contest and forced him to expend far too much energy to prevail. Facing match points in the last game, his first serve sailed to the sky. He prolonged the match two times on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It was not a collapse, I didn’t think, just a result of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly ironclad evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of the Serbian, who lost to the Spaniard in the following match and never especially appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has acquired enough knowledge and tactical know-how to make up for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is those who were expecting the American to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour regardless. He’s a patient, reflective presence in media sessions, more so than virtually anyone on the ATP aside from the Russian star, prepared to not just say how he feels or the strategy he felt decided a match, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States failing to produce a male major champion since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I don’t do it,” Fritz told an interviewer in June of winning a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is actually extremely unlikely for everybody else. {