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I have a few thoughts about that comments made by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz in the New York major last eight. Consider – the athlete represents American, Fowler is from the US – and athletic competitions often encourage patriotic sentiment. Some letdown was understandable. Rather, he brought up the continued absence 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.

Everyone love a narrative, myself included. But come on. Suppose the American had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And had he somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven grand slams (and the Spaniard went on to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). He stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually preferred his path, because it offered the opportunity to defeat the top three competitors in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is more than within his right to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final who else sensibly had the drought of US winners in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the only thing standing in her way and consistent victories

The American, 28, is ranked fourth in the global rankings starting this week’s year-end championships and has secured his last six matches over No 3 the German with growing comfort. It's likely he might claim that position 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 chasm of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class serve and powerful power on each forehand and backhand are sufficiently enough to defeat most rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is often overmatched. The past few seasons has witnessed the interesting rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless cover the court with the surprising speed and fluidity of smaller players. Fritz 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 opponent was controlling, and hitting a drop shot against him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a pretty severe limitation on his upside.

The American has made a several dramatic, improbable advancements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the lower end of the top 30. Two years later, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly surged to fourth place – and maintained the position. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What was Fowler have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing slump of American men winning major titles when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the task insufficient.

The American star made a career-best run to the All England Club last four in July.

Fritz’s play in that very last eight match should have been enough of an indication. The Serbian won in four rounds, a victory that only seemed uncertain for moments 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 rallies, with the American creating plenty of opportunities to break. But the champion saved break point after break point, prolonging the streak to the brink of frustration. When he eventually did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately produced a horrendous service game to lose his own serve once more; the Serbian had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and forced him to expend far too much effort to win it. Facing set points in the last game, his primary delivery sailed to heaven. He prolonged the match two times on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, just a consequence of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was quite ironclad proof that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of the Serbian, who lost to Alcaraz in the following match and never particularly appeared like he believed he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, but has developed sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is those who were anticipating Fritz to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in press conferences, exceeding almost anyone on the men's tour except for the Russian star, willing to not just say his emotions or the strategy he believed determined a match, but explain it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for the United States failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unjust. (Since Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I don’t accomplish it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in June of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not fulfill that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is in fact highly unlikely for everybody else. {