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I have a few opinions regarding the remarks made by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz in the New York major last eight. Consider – Fritz is American, Fowler is American – and athletic competitions frequently encourage nationalism. A little bit of letdown would have been appropriate. Instead, Fowler invoked the ongoing absence of US male players at the majors: not one of them had lifted a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the competition.

Everyone love a storyline, myself included. But really. Suppose Fritz defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the next round, whom he has yet to beat in an official match. And had he someway survived that, it would have been title holder the Italian, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven grand slams (and the Spaniard went on 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 presented the opportunity to beat the three best competitors in the world in succession. He is more than within his right to aim for the achievement; an competitor is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match who else in their right mind had the lack of American champions on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the only thing between her and consistent victories

Fritz, 28, is ranked fourth in the world starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that at present, that’s as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s elite delivery and concussive strength on each forehand and backhand are more than enough to defeat the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The past few seasons has seen the interesting emergence of tall, gangly players who can nevertheless cover the court with the alarming quickness and fluidity of smaller players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a drop shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a quite harsh limitation on his upside.

Fritz has made a number of significant, unexpected advancements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly exploded to fourth place – and maintained the position. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, 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 commenting on the continuing slump of US male players lifting grand slams when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

Taylor Fritz made a personal best advancement to the Wimbledon last four in July.

The American's play in that very quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian won in four rounds, a victory that only seemed tenuous for moments towards the conclusion, when the American had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair looked evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz earning numerous chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued break point after break point, prolonging the streak to the brink of frustration. When he finally did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a horrendous service game to drop serve again; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and compelled him to expend far too much effort to prevail. Down match points in the final game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to heaven. He prolonged the contest two times on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, just a result of needing to hit too many second serves.

The contest was fairly ironclad evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of the Serbian, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the next round and never particularly seem like he thought he could win. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and might not be at the height of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is those who were expecting Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that indicated he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective presence in media sessions, exceeding almost everyone on the ATP except for the Russian star, prepared to not just say how he feels or the strategy he felt decided a contest, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for the United States failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, maybe they can share that burden.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Group

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely think about it forever if I don’t do it,” Fritz told a journalist in the summer of winning a grand slam. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying empire is in fact extremely improbable for all other players. {