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I have some thoughts regarding the remarks made by ESPN broadcaster a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player during the New York major last eight. Consider – Fritz is American, Fowler is American – and sports often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown would have been understandable. Rather, Fowler invoked the continued drought of US male players at the majors: not one of them had lifted a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone enjoy a storyline, me too. But really. Even if Fritz had beaten the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was looming in the next round, who he has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d someway survived that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven major titles (and Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). He said in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually liked his draw, because it presented the chance to beat the three best players in the world back-to-back. Fritz is well justified to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is meant to have faith in themselves. But entering that Djokovic quarter-final what other person sensibly had the drought of US winners in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier between her and consistent victories

Fritz, 28, is placed fourth in the world starting this week’s year-end championships and has won his last six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that is as far as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of performance metrics away. His elite serve and powerful strength on both forehand and reverse side are more than adequate to defeat the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is frequently overmatched. The past few seasons has witnessed the interesting emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless cover the court with the surprising speed and fluidity of smaller men. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and hitting a drop shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite severe restriction on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a number of significant, improbable improvements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was sniffing the top 10. The previous season, he suddenly exploded to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and even a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What was Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing slump of US male players winning major titles when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the appreciation for the magnitude of the challenge insufficient.

Taylor Fritz achieved a career-best run to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

Fritz’s play in that exact quarter-final ought to have been enough of an indication. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a win that only felt tenuous for moments towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a few match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz earning plenty of opportunities to break. But the champion saved break point after service break opportunity, extending the run to the point of agony. When he finally did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a horrendous game to drop serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and compelled him to expend far too much energy to win it. Facing match points in the last game, his first serve floated to the sky. He extended the contest twice on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, only a consequence of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite ironclad evidence that the American is insufficiently skilled to beat any version of Djokovic, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the next round and never especially appeared like he believed he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his physical powers anymore, but has acquired enough knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The problem is the individuals who were expecting the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective presence in press conferences, more so than almost anyone on the men's tour except for the Russian star, willing to not just say how he feels or the strategy he believed determined a match, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America failing to spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

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

Swedish icon Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I don’t accomplish it,” the American informed an interviewer in the summer of claiming a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is in fact extremely improbable for everybody else. {