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I have some opinions regarding that comments delivered by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz during the New York major last eight. Consider – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is American – and sports frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment would have been understandable. Rather, he invoked the continued drought of American men at the majors: none of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

We all love a narrative, me too. But really. Even if Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was looming in the following match, who he has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d someway survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven major titles (and the Spaniard proceeded to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). He said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually liked his path, because it offered the opportunity to defeat the top three players in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is more than justified to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic last eight match who else in their right mind had the lack of American champions in mind?

The American star's second serve the only thing between her and consistent victories

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed fourth in the global rankings starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his previous six matches over third-ranked the German with increasing ease. It's likely he might take that spot for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that is as high as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class serve and powerful power on each forehand and backhand are more than adequate to defeat most rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is often helpless. The past few seasons has witnessed the interesting rise of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless move around with the alarming speed and fluidity of smaller players. Fritz is six-foot-five and looks it. His movement is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was dictating, and playing a soft shot against him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a pretty harsh restriction on his upside.

The American has achieved a number of significant, improbable advancements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a declining Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was Fowler thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing slump of US male players winning major titles when Fritz had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply too much and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge insufficient.

The American star achieved a career-best advancement to the All England Club semi-finals in the summer.

The American's play in that very last eight match should have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic won in four sets, a victory that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the very end, when Fritz had survived a few championship opportunities and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The duo looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz creating plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved break point after service break opportunity, extending the run to the brink of agony. When he eventually did claim one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a terrible service game to drop serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle secondary to the main contest and forced him to expend excessive effort to win it. Facing match points in the final game, Fritz’s primary delivery sailed to heaven. He prolonged the match two times on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, only a consequence of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly ironclad proof that Fritz is not good enough to defeat any form of Djokovic, that lost to the Spaniard in the next round and did not particularly seem like he believed he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his physical powers anymore, but has acquired sufficient experience and tactical know-how to make up for quite a bit 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 suggested he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a patient, reflective voice in press conferences, exceeding virtually everyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only express his emotions or the tactic he believed determined a contest, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for America failing to produce a male major champion since the last American titlist feels unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Division

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” the American told a journalist in the summer of claiming a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not achieve that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying empire is actually extremely unlikely for everybody else. {