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I have some opinions regarding the remarks made by ESPN broadcaster a well-known announcer after the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz in the New York major quarter-finals. Consider – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is American – and sports often encourage nationalism. A little bit of disappointment would have been understandable. Rather, Fowler brought up the ongoing absence of American men at the majors: none of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all love a narrative, me too. But come on. Suppose the American had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, whom he has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d someway survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz proceeded to defeat a tired Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact preferred his path, because it offered the opportunity to defeat the top three players in the sport back-to-back. He is well justified to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But entering that Serbian last eight match who else in their right mind had the drought of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is placed fourth in the world starting this week’s year-end championships and has secured his previous six matches over No 3 the German with increasing ease. It's likely he might take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that’s as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of ranking points away. His top-class delivery and concussive power on both forehand and reverse side are sufficiently enough to dispose of most opponents on the professional circuit. Against the select few generational talents, however, he is frequently overmatched. The last several seasons has seen the interesting emergence of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless move around with the surprising quickness and grace of smaller players. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was dictating, and playing a drop shot against him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a quite harsh limitation on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a number of dramatic, unexpected advancements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. Two years after, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly surged up to No 4 – and held the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a aging Djokovic, 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 departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

The American star made a personal best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in the summer.

Fritz’s performance in that exact last eight match should have been enough of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a victory that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a couple match points and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The pair looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American earning plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved break point after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the point of frustration. When Fritz eventually did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a horrendous game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle secondary to the real battle and compelled him to expend far too much energy to prevail. Down match points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to heaven. He extended the match twice on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a choke, in my opinion, only a result of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was quite compelling evidence that the American is insufficiently skilled to beat any version of the Serbian, who lost to Alcaraz in the next round and never particularly appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were expecting Fritz to prevail, and pressuring him to do so, when he was had not accomplished anything that indicated he could.

The American is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in press conferences, exceeding virtually everyone on the ATP except for the Russian star, prepared to not only say his emotions or the tactic he believed determined a match, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for the United States not spawn a male major champion since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Group

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

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I don’t do it,” the American informed a journalist in the summer of claiming a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is in fact extremely unlikely for everybody else. {