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I have some thoughts regarding that comments delivered by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer after the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz during the New York major last eight. Consider – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is American – and sports frequently lend themselves to nationalism. Some disappointment would have been appropriate. Instead, Fowler invoked the continued drought of American men at the majors: none of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

Everyone love a narrative, myself included. But really. Even if Fritz had beaten the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven major titles (and Alcaraz went on to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the next round). He stated in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually preferred his path, because it presented the chance to defeat the top three competitors in the world back-to-back. He is well within his right to aim for the achievement; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But entering that Djokovic last eight match what other person in their right mind had the lack of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing between her and sustained success

The American, 28, is placed fourth in the world entering the upcoming year-end championships and has won his last six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that is as far as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and concussive strength on both forehand and reverse side are more than enough to dispose of most opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is frequently helpless. The last several seasons has seen the interesting emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless move around with the alarming quickness and grace of smaller men. 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 win a rally that the other player was dictating, and hitting a soft shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a pretty severe limitation on his potential.

Fritz has made a number of significant, unexpected advancements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the top 30. Two years after, he was sniffing the top 10. The previous season, he suddenly surged up to fourth place – and held the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a aging Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was Fowler thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing drought of American men lifting major titles when he had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

Taylor Fritz achieved a personal best advancement to the Wimbledon last four in the summer.

Fritz’s performance in that very last eight match should have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic won in four rounds, a victory that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had saved a couple match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz creating plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved break point after break point, extending the streak to the point of agony. When Fritz eventually did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a terrible game to lose his own serve once more; the Serbian had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and forced him to use excessive energy to win it. Down set points in the final game, Fritz’s primary delivery sailed to heaven. He prolonged the contest two times on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, just a consequence of having to hit too many second serves.

The contest was fairly compelling proof that the American is insufficiently skilled to beat any version of Djokovic, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the next round and did not especially seem like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has developed enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were expecting the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he could.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in press conferences, exceeding virtually everyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only say his emotions or the tactic he felt determined a match, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for America failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Division

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

Bjorn Borg Division

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably dwell on it forever if I don’t accomplish it,” Fritz told a journalist in June of claiming a major. 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 dominant, formidable reign is in fact extremely improbable for everybody else. {