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I possess some opinions about that remarks delivered by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's victory over the American player during the New York major last eight. Look – the athlete represents American, Fowler is from the US – and sports often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown was understandable. Rather, he invoked the ongoing absence of American men at grand slam tournaments: 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 tournament.

We all enjoy a narrative, myself included. But come on. Even if the American had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, whom he has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he someway gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, versus him the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the previous seven major titles (and the Spaniard went on to thrash a tired Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz stated in press after the loss that he in fact preferred his path, because it presented the chance to defeat the three best players in the sport in succession. Fritz is well within his right to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the drought of American champions on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the sole barrier standing in her way and consistent victories

The American, twenty-eight, is ranked fourth in the global rankings starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his previous six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that’s as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite serve and concussive power on each forehand and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to dispose of the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is often helpless. The past few years has seen the curious rise of tall, gangly players who can nevertheless move around with the surprising quickness and grace of much shorter men. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was controlling, and hitting a drop shot versus him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty harsh restriction on his potential.

Fritz has made a several significant, unexpected advancements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the bottom of the top 30. Two years after, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly surged up to No 4 – and held the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a declining Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing drought of US male players lifting major titles when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply too much and the respect for the difficulty of the task too little.

The American star made a career-best run to the Wimbledon last four in the summer.

Fritz’s performance in that exact quarter-final should have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American creating numerous opportunities to break. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the streak to the brink of agony. When he finally did claim one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately produced a horrendous game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and forced him to use far too much energy to prevail. Down match points in the last game, his primary delivery sailed to heaven. He extended the match twice on his second serve, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, only a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was fairly ironclad evidence that the American is insufficiently skilled to beat any version of Djokovic, who lost to Alcaraz in the following match and never especially appeared like he thought he could win. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities now, but has developed enough experience and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the drop-off. The problem is those who were expecting Fritz to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that suggested he would.

The American is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in press conferences, exceeding almost everyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only express how he feels or the strategy he felt determined a match, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for America not spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can share that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

American legend Division

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

Bjorn Borg Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” Fritz told a journalist in the summer of claiming a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he does not fulfill that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is in fact highly improbable for everybody else. {