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I have some opinions about that comments made by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz in the New York major last eight. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is American – and sports frequently encourage nationalism. Some letdown was appropriate. Rather, he invoked the continued absence of American men at the majors: none of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all enjoy a narrative, myself included. But really. Even if Fritz defeated Djokovic for the first time, force of nature the Spanish star was waiting in the next round, who Fritz has never defeated in an official match. And had he someway gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, versus him Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the last seven major titles (plus Alcaraz went on to thrash a tired Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz said in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually preferred his path, because it offered the opportunity to beat the three best players in the sport in succession. Fritz is more than 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 drought of American champions on the brain?

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

Fritz, 28, is placed number four in the global rankings entering this week’s year-end championships and has secured his previous six encounters over third-ranked the German with growing comfort. Presumably he might claim that position for himself in the future. But evidently that at present, that’s as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a vast gap of ranking points away. His top-class delivery 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 select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is often overmatched. The last several seasons has witnessed the interesting emergence of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless move around with the alarming quickness and fluidity of smaller players. Fritz is six-foot-five and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the other player was controlling, and hitting a soft shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite harsh restriction on his upside.

Fritz 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. Two years after, he was approaching the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded up to fourth place – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a aging Serbian, 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 appropriate mentioning 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 appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

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

Fritz’s performance in that exact last eight match should have been enough of an sign. Djokovic won in four rounds, a victory that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the very end, when the American had saved a few championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the rallies, with the American creating numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued break point after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the point of agony. When he finally did claim one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a terrible game to drop serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and forced him to use far too much energy to prevail. Facing match points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve floated to heaven. He extended the match twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, just a consequence of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was quite compelling proof that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any form of Djokovic, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the following match and never especially seem like he believed he could win. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the best player ever, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities anymore, but has developed sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is those who were anticipating the American to prevail, and pressuring him to do so, when he was had not done anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective presence in press conferences, more so than almost everyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just express how he feels or the tactic he felt decided a match, but clarify it. That he should bear the brunt of the blame for the United States failing to spawn a male major champion since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

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

Swedish icon Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably think about it forever if I fail to accomplish it,” the American informed an interviewer in the summer of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is actually highly unlikely for all other players. {