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I have some thoughts about the remarks made by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's win over the American player in the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is American – and athletic competitions often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment was understandable. Rather, he invoked the ongoing absence of American men at the majors: none of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the competition.

We all enjoy a storyline, me too. But come on. Even if Fritz had beaten the legend for the first time, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the following match, who Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the last seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz proceeded to defeat a tired Djokovic in the next round). He said in press after the loss that he in fact preferred his path, because it presented the chance to defeat the top three players in the world in succession. He is well justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final who else in their right mind had the drought of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing between her and consistent victories

Fritz, 28, is placed number four in the world starting the upcoming year-end championships and has secured his last six matches over No 3 the German with growing comfort. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that is as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s elite delivery and concussive strength on both forehand and backhand are more than adequate to defeat the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The last several seasons has seen the curious rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless move around with the alarming quickness and fluidity of smaller players. He is six-foot-five and appears that way. His footwork is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the other player was controlling, and hitting a soft shot against him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a quite harsh limitation on his upside.

The American has made a number of dramatic, improbable advancements over the years. Early on of the ten-year period, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly exploded to fourth place – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a aging Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the ongoing drought of American men lifting major titles when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

Taylor Fritz achieved a personal best run to the All England Club last four in the summer.

The American's play in that very last eight match ought to have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic triumphed in four rounds, a win that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had survived a few championship opportunities and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz creating plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued break point after break point, prolonging the streak to the point of agony. When Fritz eventually did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a terrible service game to drop serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and compelled him to expend excessive effort to prevail. Down set points in the last game, his first serve floated to heaven. He extended the match two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a choke, in my opinion, only a result of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was fairly ironclad proof that the American is not good enough to beat any form of the Serbian, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and never especially appeared like he thought he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has developed sufficient experience and tactical know-how to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is those who were expecting Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in press conferences, more so than virtually everyone on the men's tour aside from the Russian star, willing to not only express his emotions or the tactic he felt determined a contest, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the blame for the United States failing to produce a male major champion since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Since the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can share that burden.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Division

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Division

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” Fritz told a journalist in the summer of winning a major. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is actually highly unlikely for everybody else. {