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I have a few thoughts about the comments made by ESPN broadcaster Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz in the New York major quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment would have been appropriate. Instead, Fowler invoked the ongoing drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them had lifted a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all enjoy a storyline, myself included. But really. Even if the American defeated the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the next round, whom he has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the last seven major titles (plus the Spaniard went on to defeat a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). Fritz stated in press after the loss that he in fact liked his path, because it presented the chance to defeat the three best players in the sport in succession. He is more than justified to aim for the accomplishment; an competitor is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the drought of American champions in mind?

The American star's weaker delivery the only thing between her and consistent victories

The American, 28, is ranked fourth in the world starting this week’s year-end championships and has secured his last six encounters over No 3 the German with increasing ease. Presumably he might claim that position for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that’s as far as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of ranking points away. His elite serve and powerful strength on each front side and backhand are sufficiently enough to defeat the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of generational talents, though, he is often overmatched. The last several years has seen the interesting emergence of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and fluidity of smaller men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the other player was dictating, and hitting a soft shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a pretty severe limitation on his potential.

The American has achieved a several dramatic, unexpected improvements over the years. Early on of the ten-year period, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly surged up to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a declining Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the ongoing slump of American men lifting grand slams when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

Taylor Fritz made a personal best advancement to the All England Club semi-finals in July.

The American's play in that very quarter-final should have been enough of an sign. The Serbian triumphed in four sets, a victory that only felt tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had survived a couple match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz creating plenty of opportunities to break. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the streak to the point of agony. When he eventually did claim one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a horrendous service game to drop serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and forced him to expend far too much effort to win it. Down set points in the final game, his first serve floated to the sky. He prolonged the match twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, only a consequence of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was quite ironclad evidence that Fritz is not good enough to defeat any form of Djokovic, that lost to Alcaraz in the next round and did not especially appeared like he believed he could triumph. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired enough experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is those who were expecting Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in media sessions, exceeding almost anyone on the ATP aside from the Russian star, prepared to not just express his emotions or the tactic he felt determined a match, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States not produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unjust. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Group

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

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I don’t do it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in June of winning a grand slam. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not fulfill that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is actually extremely unlikely for everybody else. {