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I have a few thoughts about that remarks delivered by ESPN broadcaster a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz in the US Open last eight. Consider – Fritz is American, Fowler is from the US – and athletic competitions often encourage nationalism. A little bit of disappointment was appropriate. Rather, he invoked the ongoing absence of American men at the majors: none of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

We all love a narrative, me too. But really. Even if Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the next round, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And had he someway survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven grand slams (and Alcaraz went on to thrash a tired Djokovic in the subsequent match). He said in press after the loss that he in fact preferred his path, because it offered the opportunity to defeat the three best competitors in the world in succession. He is well justified to aim for the achievement; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final who else sensibly had the lack of US winners in mind?

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

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the world entering this week’s year-end championships and has won his previous six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that’s as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of ranking points away. His top-class serve and concussive power on both forehand and reverse side are more than enough to defeat the majority of rivals on the ATP tour. Against the select few generational talents, though, Fritz is often helpless. The last several years has seen the curious rise of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless cover the court with the alarming speed and grace of much shorter players. He is six-foot-five and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was controlling, and playing a soft shot versus him is usually a reliable tactic. That acts as a pretty severe limitation on his upside.

The American has made a number of significant, improbable improvements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. 24 months after, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, competing against and beating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a declining Djokovic, is the highest of all. What was Fowler have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing drought of US male players lifting major titles when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

The American star achieved a career-best advancement to the All England Club semi-finals in July.

The American's play in that very quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic won in four rounds, a victory that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had saved a few match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American earning plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the brink of agony. When he eventually did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately played a terrible service game to lose his own serve again; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and forced him to expend excessive effort to win it. Down match points in the final game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to heaven. He prolonged the contest twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, only a consequence of having to hit too many second serves.

The contest was fairly ironclad proof that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of Djokovic, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the next round and never particularly appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities anymore, but has developed enough experience and tactical know-how to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that indicated he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in media sessions, more so than virtually everyone on the men's tour aside from the Russian star, prepared to not just express his emotions or the tactic he felt decided a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the responsibility for the United States failing to spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz told a journalist in the summer of winning a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not a failure if he does not fulfill that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is in fact extremely unlikely for everybody else. {