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I possess a few thoughts regarding the comments delivered by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz in the New York major quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is American, Fowler is American – and athletic competitions often encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment was appropriate. Instead, he invoked the ongoing absence of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them has won a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all enjoy a narrative, me too. But come on. Even if Fritz had beaten the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the following match, whom he has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven major titles (plus Alcaraz proceeded to defeat a tired Serbian in the next round). He said in press following his defeat that he actually liked his draw, because it offered the chance to beat the three best competitors in the sport back-to-back. He is more than within his right to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is meant to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final who else sensibly had the lack of American champions on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the sole barrier between her and consistent victories

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the world starting this week’s year-end championships and has secured his last six matches over third-ranked the German with growing comfort. Presumably he might take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that at present, that’s as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of performance metrics away. His elite serve and powerful strength on both forehand and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to defeat the majority of rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is often overmatched. The last several seasons has seen the interesting rise of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless move around with the surprising speed and fluidity of smaller players. Fritz is six-foot-five and appears that way. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the other player was dictating, and playing a soft shot against him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a quite harsh limitation on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a several significant, unexpected improvements throughout his career. Early on of the ten-year period, he was circling the bottom of the top 30. Two years later, he was sniffing the top 10. The previous season, he suddenly surged up to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and beating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and even a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the ongoing slump of US male players lifting grand slams when he had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply too much and the appreciation for the magnitude of the task too little.

The American star achieved a career-best run to the Wimbledon semi-finals in the summer.

The American's play in that exact quarter-final ought to have been enough of an indication. Djokovic triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only felt tenuous for moments towards the conclusion, when Fritz had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz earning plenty of chances to break. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the point of agony. When he eventually did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately played a terrible game to lose his own serve again; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and forced him to use excessive effort to win it. Facing set points in the last game, his primary delivery sailed to heaven. He extended the contest twice on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a collapse, I didn’t think, only a consequence of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly compelling evidence that the American is not good enough to beat any form of the Serbian, who lost to the Spaniard in the next round and did not especially seem like he thought he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – the Serbian is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is those who were anticipating the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that indicated he would.

The American is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective presence in press conferences, exceeding virtually everyone on the ATP aside from the Russian star, prepared to not only 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 not spawn a male major champion since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, maybe they can share that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely think about it forever if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in June of claiming a major. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is actually highly improbable for all other players. {