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I have some opinions regarding that remarks delivered by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's win over the American player during the New York major quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is American, Fowler is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some letdown was understandable. Rather, he brought up the continued absence of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the competition.

We all enjoy a narrative, myself included. But come on. Suppose Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the next round, whom he has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d someway survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the last seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz proceeded to defeat a tired Serbian in the subsequent match). He stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact preferred his draw, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the three best competitors in the sport back-to-back. He is well justified to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is supposed to believe in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final who else sensibly had the lack of American champions on the brain?

The American star's second serve the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is placed number four in the global rankings starting the upcoming year-end championships and has secured his previous six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. 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 vast gap of performance metrics away. His top-class delivery and concussive power on both front side and backhand are more than enough to defeat the majority of rivals on the ATP tour. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is frequently overmatched. The last several seasons has witnessed the curious emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless move around with the alarming quickness and grace of much shorter players. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His movement is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and hitting a drop shot against him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a pretty severe limitation on his potential.

The American has made a several significant, unexpected improvements over the years. Early on of the ten-year period, he was circling the bottom of the top 30. 24 months later, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he suddenly surged to No 4 – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a aging Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What could Fowler thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the continuing slump of US male players lifting major titles when Fritz had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

Taylor Fritz made a personal best run to the Wimbledon semi-finals in the summer.

Fritz’s performance in that very last eight match ought to have been enough of an indication. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a win that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had survived a few match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz earning numerous chances to break. But Djokovic rescued break point after break point, extending the run to the brink of frustration. When he eventually did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a terrible service game to lose his own serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and compelled him to use excessive effort to win it. Down match points in the final game, his first serve sailed to the sky. He prolonged the contest twice on his second serve, but finally committed two errors. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, just a consequence of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly compelling evidence that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of the Serbian, that lost to Alcaraz in the following match and never particularly appeared like he believed he could win. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is those who were anticipating the American to win, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that suggested he could.

The American is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in press conferences, more so than virtually anyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just express his emotions or the tactic he believed decided a match, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States failing to produce a male major champion since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in the summer of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he does not fulfill that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is actually highly improbable for all other players. {