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I have a few opinions regarding that comments made by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player in the New York major last eight. Consider – Fritz is American, the commentator is from the US – and sports often encourage patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment would have been appropriate. Rather, he invoked the continued drought of American men at the majors: not one of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the competition.

We all enjoy a storyline, me too. But come on. Suppose Fritz defeated Djokovic for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was looming in the following match, whom he has yet to beat in an official match. And had he someway survived that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven major titles (and Alcaraz proceeded to defeat a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). Fritz stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually preferred his path, because it presented the chance to defeat the top three competitors in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is well justified to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match what other person in their right mind had the lack of US winners on the brain?

The American star's weaker delivery the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is ranked fourth in the world starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his previous six matches over No 3 the German with growing comfort. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that right now, that is as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and concussive strength on both forehand and backhand are more than adequate to dispose of most opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The last several years has witnessed the curious emergence of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless move around with the surprising quickness and fluidity of smaller players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was controlling, and playing a soft shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That acts as a pretty severe limitation on his potential.

The American has achieved a number of dramatic, unexpected advancements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly surged to No 4 – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and even a aging Djokovic, is the highest of all. What could the commentator have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the ongoing drought of American men lifting major titles when Fritz had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

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

Fritz’s play in that very last eight match ought to have been enough of an indication. Djokovic won in four rounds, a win that only seemed tenuous for moments towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a few match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz earning plenty of chances to break. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after break point, extending the streak to the brink of agony. When he eventually did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately played a terrible game to drop serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle secondary to the real battle and forced him to use far too much effort to prevail. Facing match points in the last game, his primary delivery sailed 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 consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The match was quite ironclad proof that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any form of the Serbian, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the next round and never especially appeared like he believed he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has acquired enough experience and tactical know-how to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is those who were anticipating the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he would.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in press conferences, more so than almost everyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just express how he feels or the tactic he felt determined a contest, but explain it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for the United States failing to spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Division

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

Bjorn Borg Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” the American told a journalist in the summer of claiming a major. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is actually highly unlikely for everybody else. {