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I have a few thoughts regarding that comments delivered by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's win over the American player during the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is American – and athletic competitions often encourage nationalism. Some letdown would have been understandable. Instead, he brought up the continued drought of US male players at the majors: none of them had lifted a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

We all enjoy a narrative, myself included. But really. Suppose the American had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, who he has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven major titles (plus the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the next round). Fritz stated in press following his defeat that he in fact preferred his draw, 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 accomplishment; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the lack of American champions in mind?

The American star's second serve the sole barrier between her and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is ranked fourth in the world entering this week’s year-end championships and has won his previous six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that is as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. His elite serve and concussive power on both forehand and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to dispose of the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. When facing the select few generational talents, however, Fritz is often overmatched. The past few seasons has witnessed the interesting rise of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless move around with the surprising speed and fluidity of smaller players. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a drop shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty harsh restriction on his upside.

Fritz has made a several dramatic, improbable improvements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged up 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 declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was Fowler have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the continuing slump of American men winning major titles when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

The American star made a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in the summer.

Fritz’s performance in that very quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four rounds, a win that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the very end, when the American had survived a few match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with the American earning numerous opportunities to break. But the champion saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the point of frustration. When he finally did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a terrible game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and forced him to expend far too much energy to prevail. Down match points in the final game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to heaven. He prolonged the match twice on his second serve, but finally committed two errors. It was not a collapse, I didn’t think, only a result of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite ironclad evidence that the American is not good enough to defeat any form of the Serbian, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the next round and never particularly appeared like he thought he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities anymore, but has developed enough experience and tactical know-how to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating the American to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not accomplished anything that indicated he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in media sessions, exceeding virtually everyone on the ATP aside from the Russian star, willing to not just say how he feels or the tactic he felt determined a contest, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America failing to spawn 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 divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Division

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” Fritz told an interviewer in the summer of winning a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is actually extremely improbable for everybody else. {