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I have a few opinions regarding the comments delivered by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player during the US Open last eight. Look – the athlete represents American, Fowler is American – and sports frequently lend themselves to nationalism. Some letdown would have been understandable. Instead, he invoked the continued absence of American men at the majors: not one 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, myself included. But come on. Even if the American had beaten the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, whom Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven grand slams (and Alcaraz proceeded to defeat a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). He stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually liked his path, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the top three players in the sport in succession. He is more than justified to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian last eight match who else in their right mind had the drought of American champions on the brain?

The American star's weaker delivery the sole barrier between her and sustained success

The American, 28, is ranked fourth in the global rankings starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he might take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that is as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of performance metrics away. His top-class serve and concussive power on each forehand and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to dispose of the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. Against the handful of generational talents, though, Fritz is often helpless. The last several years has seen the curious emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless move around with the surprising quickness and fluidity of much shorter players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was controlling, and hitting a drop shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite severe restriction on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a several dramatic, improbable advancements over the years. Early on of the ten-year period, he was circling the bottom of the top 30. Two years later, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded up to fourth place – and held the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and beating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What was the commentator have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the ongoing drought of US male players lifting grand slams when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply too much and the appreciation for the magnitude of the task insufficient.

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

The American's play in that exact quarter-final ought to have been enough of an indication. Djokovic won in four rounds, a victory that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had survived a few match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo looked well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz earning plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued break point after break point, prolonging the run to the brink of agony. When he eventually did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a terrible service game to lose his own serve again; the Serbian had lulled him into a battle secondary to the main contest and forced him to expend far too much effort to prevail. Facing set points in the final game, his primary delivery floated to the sky. He extended the match two times on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, only a consequence of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was fairly compelling proof that the American is not good enough to beat any version of Djokovic, who lost to Alcaraz in the following match and never particularly appeared like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is the individuals who were expecting Fritz to prevail, 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 media sessions, exceeding virtually anyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just express how he feels or the strategy he felt decided a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for the United States failing to spawn a male major champion since the last American titlist seems unjust. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

American legend Division

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Group

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely 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 doesn’t fulfill that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is actually extremely improbable for everybody else. {