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I have a few thoughts about the comments made by ESPN broadcaster a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player during the US Open last eight. Consider – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is American – and sports frequently encourage nationalism. A little bit of disappointment would have been appropriate. Rather, he invoked the continued drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: none of them had lifted a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

We all enjoy a storyline, myself included. But come on. Suppose Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was looming in the next round, who Fritz has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him Fritz had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard went on to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the next round). He stated in press following his defeat that he in fact liked his draw, because it offered the chance to defeat the three best players in the sport back-to-back. He is more than within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an competitor is supposed to believe in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final who else sensibly had the lack of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

The American, twenty-eight, is placed fourth in the world starting the upcoming year-end championships and has secured 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’s as far as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and powerful power on each forehand and reverse side are sufficiently enough to defeat most rivals on the professional circuit. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is frequently helpless. The past few years has witnessed the interesting rise of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless cover the court with the alarming speed and grace of much shorter players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the opponent was dictating, and hitting a soft shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a pretty severe restriction on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a number of significant, improbable improvements over the years. Early on of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the lower end of the top 30. Two years after, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly surged up to No 4 – and held the spot. But the next leap, competing against and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a declining Djokovic, is the highest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing drought of American men winning grand slams when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

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

The American's play in that very last eight match should have been enough of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only felt tenuous for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had saved a few match points and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The pair looked evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz creating plenty of chances to break. But the champion saved service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the run to the point of agony. When he finally did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately produced a horrendous service game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and forced him to expend far too much effort to prevail. Down match points in the final game, his first serve sailed to the sky. He extended the match twice on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, only a result of needing to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The match was quite compelling proof that Fritz is not good enough to beat any form of Djokovic, that lost to the Spaniard in the next round and never especially seem like he believed he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his physical powers anymore, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The problem is those who were expecting the American to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not 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, more so than almost everyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just express how he feels or the strategy he felt decided a match, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for America failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unjust. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Division

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

Swedish icon Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I don’t do it,” the American told a journalist in the summer of winning a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he does not achieve that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying empire is actually extremely unlikely for everybody else. {