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I have a few thoughts about the remarks delivered by ESPN broadcaster Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz during the New York major last eight. Consider – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is from the US – and sports often lend themselves to nationalism. Some letdown was appropriate. Instead, he invoked the continued absence of American men at the majors: not one of them had lifted a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone love a storyline, me too. But really. Suppose the American defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the next round, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard proceeded to defeat a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). He stated in press following his defeat that he actually liked his draw, because it offered the chance to defeat the three best players in the sport in succession. He is well justified to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final what other person in their right mind 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

The American, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the global rankings entering this week’s year-end championships and has won his last six encounters over No 3 the German with increasing ease. It's likely he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that right now, that’s as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite delivery and concussive power on both front side and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to defeat the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is often helpless. The last several years has witnessed the curious rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless cover the court with the alarming speed and grace of smaller players. Fritz is six-foot-five and looks it. His movement is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he seldom win a rally that the opponent was dictating, and playing a soft shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty severe limitation on his upside.

The American has made a several dramatic, unexpected improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was approaching the top 10. The previous season, he suddenly surged up to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a aging Djokovic, is the highest of all. What could Fowler thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing slump of American men winning grand slams when Fritz had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just too much and the appreciation for the magnitude of the challenge insufficient.

Taylor Fritz made a personal best run to the All England Club semi-finals in the summer.

Fritz’s performance in that exact quarter-final should have been enough of an indication. Djokovic won in four sets, a victory that only felt tenuous for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had survived a couple match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked well-balanced during the rallies, with the American creating numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the streak to the brink of frustration. When Fritz eventually did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately produced a terrible service game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle secondary to the real battle and forced him to use far too much effort to prevail. Down match points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to heaven. He prolonged the contest two times on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, only a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The match was quite ironclad proof that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any form of Djokovic, that was defeated by the Spaniard in the following match and never particularly seem like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has developed sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to make up for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were expecting the American to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not done anything that indicated he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective presence in media sessions, more so than virtually anyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just say how he feels or the strategy he believed decided a contest, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for America not spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, 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)

Bjorn Borg Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably think about it forever if I don’t accomplish it,” the American told a journalist in June of claiming a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is actually extremely improbable for everybody else. {