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I possess a few thoughts regarding that remarks delivered by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's victory over the American player in the New York major last eight. Look – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is American – and sports often lend themselves to nationalism. Some disappointment was understandable. Rather, he brought up the ongoing drought of American men at the majors: not one of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

We all enjoy a narrative, myself included. But really. Even if the American defeated the legend for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was looming in the next round, who he has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he someway survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven grand slams (and Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). He said in press after the loss that he actually liked his path, because it offered the opportunity to defeat the three best competitors in the world in succession. He is more than within his right to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But entering that Djokovic quarter-final what other person sensibly had the drought of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is ranked number four in the global rankings entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous 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 at present, that’s as far as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of performance metrics away. His elite delivery and powerful power on each front side and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to defeat most rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is frequently overmatched. The last several seasons has witnessed the interesting emergence of tall, gangly players who can nevertheless cover the court with the alarming speed and fluidity of much shorter men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is rigid, 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 typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite severe restriction on his upside.

The American has made a several dramatic, unexpected advancements throughout his career. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a aging Djokovic, is the highest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the ongoing drought of American men lifting major titles when he 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.

Taylor Fritz made a career-best run to the All England Club last four in July.

The American's play in that very quarter-final ought to have been enough of an sign. Djokovic won in four sets, a win that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had saved a few championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the rallies, with the American creating plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the run to the brink of frustration. When he eventually did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a horrendous game to lose his own serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle secondary to the main contest and forced him to expend far too much effort to win it. Facing set points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to the sky. He prolonged the contest two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, only a consequence of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly compelling evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any version of Djokovic, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and never particularly 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 athletic abilities now, but has acquired enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is those who were anticipating Fritz to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective voice in press conferences, more so than almost everyone on the ATP aside from the Russian star, willing to not just express how he feels or the strategy he felt determined a match, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America failing to spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Since the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, maybe they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Division

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Group

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

“I’d probably think about it forever if I don’t do it,” the American informed a journalist in June of claiming a grand slam. It is hoped he understands that he’s not a failure if he does not achieve that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable empire is in fact highly improbable for everybody else. {