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I have a few thoughts regarding that comments made by ESPN broadcaster Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player during the US Open last eight. Look – the athlete represents American, Fowler is American – and sports frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some letdown was understandable. Instead, he invoked the continued drought of US male players at the majors: not one of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the competition.

Everyone enjoy a narrative, me too. But really. Suppose Fritz had beaten the legend for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the next round, who Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven major titles (and the Spaniard went on to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the next round). Fritz said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact preferred his path, because it offered the chance to defeat the top three competitors in the world in succession. Fritz is well justified to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic last eight match who else in their right mind had the drought of US winners in mind?

The American star's weaker delivery the sole barrier between her and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is ranked number four in the world starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that is as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a chasm of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class serve and powerful strength on each front side and backhand are sufficiently enough to dispose of the majority of rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the select few generational talents, though, he is frequently overmatched. The past few years has witnessed the curious rise of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and grace of smaller players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement 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 playing a drop shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a pretty severe limitation on his potential.

The American has achieved a number of significant, improbable improvements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the top 30. Two years after, he was approaching the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded up to No 4 – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating legendary figures like Alcaraz, Sinner, and even a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the ongoing slump of US male players winning grand slams when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

The American star made 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 enough of an sign. The Serbian won in four sets, a win that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz earning numerous chances to break. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the point of agony. When Fritz eventually did claim a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a terrible game to drop serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and forced him to expend far too much energy to prevail. Facing match points in the last game, his primary delivery floated to heaven. He prolonged the contest two times on his second serve, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, only a result of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite compelling proof that the American is not good enough to beat any form of the Serbian, who lost to Alcaraz in the following match and did not especially 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 anymore, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The problem is those who were anticipating the American to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in media sessions, more so than virtually anyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only express how he feels or the tactic he felt decided a contest, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for America not produce a male major champion since the last American titlist seems unjust. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can divide that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Group

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

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” Fritz told a journalist in June of winning a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he does not fulfill that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is actually highly unlikely for all other players. {