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I possess some thoughts about the remarks made by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz in the New York major quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is American – and sports often encourage patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment was understandable. Instead, he brought up the ongoing absence of American men at the majors: none of them had lifted a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the competition.

We all enjoy a storyline, me too. But come on. Even if the American defeated the legend for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the following match, whom he has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven major titles (and Alcaraz went on to thrash a tired Serbian in the next round). Fritz said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact preferred his draw, because it presented the chance to beat the top three competitors in the sport back-to-back. He is more than justified to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete 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 American champions on the brain?

The American star's second serve the only thing between her and sustained success

The American, twenty-eight, is ranked number four in the global rankings starting this week’s year-end championships and has won his last six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that right now, that is as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class serve and concussive strength on both forehand and reverse side are more than enough to dispose of most opponents on the ATP tour. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is often helpless. The past few years has seen the interesting rise of lanky, towering athletes who can nevertheless move around with the surprising speed and fluidity of much shorter players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the other player was dictating, and playing a drop shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a quite severe limitation on his upside.

Fritz has made a several significant, unexpected improvements throughout his career. Early on of the ten-year period, he was circling the bottom of the top 30. 24 months later, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the next leap, competing against and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and even a aging Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the continuing slump of US male players lifting grand slams when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply too much and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

The American star achieved a personal best run to the All England Club last four in the summer.

The American's play in that exact last eight match ought to have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic won in four rounds, a victory that only felt tenuous for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a few championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz creating plenty of opportunities to break. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the point of agony. When Fritz finally did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a terrible service game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a battle peripheral to the real battle and forced him to use excessive effort to prevail. Down set points in the final game, Fritz’s first serve floated to the sky. He extended the match two times on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, only a consequence of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was quite ironclad proof that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of the Serbian, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the next round and did not especially seem like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – Djokovic is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities anymore, but has developed sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were anticipating the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that indicated he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in media sessions, more so than almost anyone on the ATP aside from the Russian star, willing to not just express how he feels or the strategy he believed determined a match, but explain it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for America failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unjust. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

American legend Division

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Group

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely think about it forever if I don’t do it,” Fritz informed a journalist in the summer of claiming a major. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is actually extremely unlikely for everybody else. {