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I possess some opinions about the remarks delivered by ESPN broadcaster Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz during the US Open last eight. Look – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is American – and sports frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment would have been understandable. Instead, he invoked the continued drought of American men at the majors: none of them had lifted a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone love a storyline, me too. But come on. Even if the American defeated the legend for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, who Fritz has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven major titles (plus Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz stated in press following his defeat that he actually liked his path, because it offered the opportunity to defeat the three best competitors in the world back-to-back. Fritz is well within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final who else sensibly had the drought of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the sole barrier between her and sustained success

The American, 28, is placed number four in the global rankings starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that’s as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. His top-class serve and concussive strength on each forehand and reverse side are more than adequate to dispose of most rivals on the ATP tour. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is frequently helpless. The last several seasons has seen the interesting emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nevertheless cover the court with the alarming quickness and grace of much shorter men. He is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely 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 upside.

Fritz has achieved a number of significant, unexpected improvements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the top 30. 24 months after, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and even a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What could the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing slump of US male players winning major titles when he had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

The American star achieved a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon last four in July.

Fritz’s performance in that very last eight match should have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic won in four rounds, a win that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had survived a couple match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American creating plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued break point after break point, 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 produced a horrendous service game to lose his own serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a battle secondary to the real battle and forced him to use excessive energy to win it. Facing match points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve floated to the sky. He prolonged the match two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, just a result of needing to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was quite compelling evidence that Fritz is not good enough to defeat any version of Djokovic, who lost to the Spaniard in the next round and never particularly seem like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has acquired enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in media sessions, more so than virtually everyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only express his emotions or the strategy he felt determined a contest, but clarify it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Division

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

“I would likely dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz told a journalist in June of winning a grand slam. It is hoped he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is in fact extremely improbable for all other players. {