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I possess a few thoughts regarding the remarks delivered by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer after the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz during the US Open quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is American – and sports frequently lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of disappointment was appropriate. Instead, he invoked the ongoing absence of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all love a storyline, myself included. But come on. Even if Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting 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. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the last seven major titles (and the Spaniard went on to thrash a tired Serbian in the next round). He said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact liked his path, because it offered the opportunity to beat the top three players in the world back-to-back. He is well within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an competitor is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final who else in their right mind had the drought of American champions on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed fourth in the world entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that at present, that’s as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a vast gap of ranking points away. His top-class delivery and powerful power on each front side and reverse side are more than enough to defeat most rivals on the ATP tour. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is often overmatched. The past few years has seen the interesting emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless move around with the alarming quickness and grace of smaller players. Fritz is six-foot-five and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom win a rally that the opponent was dictating, and hitting a drop shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite harsh limitation on his potential.

The American has made a number of significant, improbable improvements throughout his career. Early on of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was approaching the top 10. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged to fourth place – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What could 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 ongoing slump of US male players 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 task too little.

The American star made a personal best run to the All England Club semi-finals in July.

Fritz’s performance in that very last eight match ought to have been enough of an sign. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had survived a few match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American earning numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the streak to the point of agony. When he finally did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a terrible game to drop serve again; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and compelled him to use far too much effort to prevail. Facing match points in the last game, his primary delivery floated to heaven. He prolonged the contest two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, only a result of needing to hit too many second serves.

The match was fairly ironclad proof that the American is not good enough to defeat any form of Djokovic, who lost to the Spaniard in the following match and never particularly seem like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his physical powers anymore, but has developed sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is those who were anticipating the American to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he would.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in press conferences, exceeding almost anyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only express how he feels or the strategy he believed determined a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States not spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

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

Swedish icon Group

• 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 a journalist in June of winning a major. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is actually highly unlikely for all other players. {