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I have some thoughts regarding the comments delivered by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's win over the American player in the US Open last eight. Look – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is from the US – and sports frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment was understandable. Instead, Fowler invoked the ongoing absence of US male players at the majors: not one of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

We all love a storyline, me too. But come on. Suppose the American defeated Djokovic for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the next round, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an official match. And had he somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven grand slams (and the Spaniard proceeded to defeat a tired Djokovic in the next round). Fritz said in press following his defeat that he actually preferred his draw, because it offered the chance to defeat the three best competitors in the world back-to-back. Fritz is more than within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an competitor is meant to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final who else sensibly had the lack of US winners in mind?

The American star's weaker delivery the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

The American, 28, is placed fourth in the world starting the upcoming year-end championships and has secured his previous six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he might take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that is as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a chasm of performance metrics away. His elite delivery and powerful strength on both forehand and backhand are more than enough to dispose of most opponents on the ATP tour. Against the handful of generational talents, however, Fritz is often helpless. The last several years has seen the interesting rise of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless cover the court with the surprising speed and fluidity of smaller men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His footwork is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was controlling, and hitting a soft shot against him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a quite harsh limitation on his potential.

The American has achieved a number of dramatic, unexpected advancements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was approaching the top 10. The previous season, he unexpectedly exploded up to No 4 – and held the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and even a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What could Fowler thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing slump of US male players lifting grand slams when he had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task too little.

Taylor Fritz made a career-best run to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

Fritz’s play in that very quarter-final should have been sufficient of an indication. The Serbian won in four sets, a win that only felt uncertain for moments towards the very end, when the American had saved a few championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the rallies, with the American creating plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the brink of frustration. When Fritz eventually did claim a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a horrendous game to drop serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and compelled him to expend excessive energy to win it. Facing set points in the last game, his primary delivery floated to the sky. He extended the match two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a choke, in my opinion, just a result of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly compelling proof that the American is insufficiently skilled to beat any form of the Serbian, who lost to Alcaraz in the next round and did not especially appeared like he thought he could win. This is perfectly fine – the Serbian is the best player ever, and may not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is those who were expecting the American to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the tour regardless. He’s a patient, reflective voice in media sessions, more so than almost everyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just express his emotions or the tactic he believed decided a match, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America failing to produce a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

American legend Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I fail to accomplish it,” the American told an interviewer in the summer of claiming a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he does not achieve that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is in fact extremely improbable for all other players. {