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I possess some opinions about that comments made by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz during the New York major quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is from the US – and athletic competitions often encourage patriotic sentiment. Some letdown would have been understandable. Instead, he invoked the ongoing drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the competition.

Everyone enjoy a storyline, me too. But really. Even if Fritz defeated 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 official match. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven major titles (plus the Spaniard went on to defeat a fatigued Djokovic in the next round). Fritz said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually liked his path, because it offered the opportunity to defeat the top three players in the world back-to-back. He is more than within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the lack 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 global rankings entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six encounters over No 3 the German 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 sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. His elite serve and concussive strength on each forehand and backhand are more than adequate to dispose of most opponents on the ATP tour. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is often overmatched. The last several seasons has seen the interesting emergence of tall, gangly players who can nevertheless move around with the alarming quickness and grace of smaller players. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was dictating, and playing a drop shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite severe restriction on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a several dramatic, unexpected advancements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly surged to fourth place – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and even a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What could the commentator have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing drought of US male players lifting grand slams when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the task insufficient.

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

Fritz’s play in that exact last eight match should have been enough of an sign. The Serbian won in four sets, a victory that only felt tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had survived a couple match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz creating numerous opportunities to break. But the champion rescued break point after break point, extending the streak to the point of frustration. When Fritz eventually did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a horrendous game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle secondary to the main contest and compelled him to use excessive effort to prevail. Facing set points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery sailed to heaven. He extended the match twice on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, just a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly compelling evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of the Serbian, that lost to Alcaraz in the next round and did not especially appeared like he thought he could win. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, but has developed sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is those who were expecting Fritz to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he would.

The American is an asset to the circuit regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in press conferences, more so than virtually anyone on the ATP except for the Russian star, prepared to not only express how he feels or the strategy he felt determined a match, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for the United States failing to spawn a male major champion since the last American titlist feels unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

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

Bjorn Borg Division

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

“I’d probably dwell on it forever if I fail to do it,” the American told a journalist in the summer of winning a grand slam. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is actually extremely improbable for all other players. {