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I have a few thoughts about the remarks made by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's win over the American player in the New York major quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents American, Fowler is from the US – and sports frequently encourage nationalism. A little bit of disappointment would have been understandable. Instead, Fowler invoked the ongoing absence of US male players at the majors: none of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone love a narrative, me too. But really. Even if Fritz defeated the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the next round, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also split the last 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 path, because it offered the chance to defeat the top three players in the sport back-to-back. He is well within his right to aim for the achievement; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final what other person sensibly had the lack of American champions on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier between her and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is placed number four in the world starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six matches over No 3 the German with increasing ease. Presumably he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that is as far as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard sit a chasm of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class serve and concussive power on both front side and reverse side are sufficiently enough to defeat most rivals on the professional circuit. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is frequently helpless. The last several seasons has seen the curious rise of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless move around with the alarming speed and fluidity of smaller men. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a drop shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite severe limitation on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a number of dramatic, unexpected improvements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. 24 months later, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly exploded up to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a aging Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What could the commentator have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing drought of American men winning major titles when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge 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 exact last eight match ought to have been enough of an indication. Djokovic won in four sets, a victory that only felt uncertain for moments towards the very end, when the American had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with the American creating plenty of chances to break. But the champion saved break point after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the brink of agony. When he eventually did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a terrible service game to lose his own serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a battle peripheral to the real battle and forced him to expend excessive effort to win it. Down match points in the final game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to the sky. He prolonged the match twice on his second serve, but finally committed two errors. It was not a choke, in my opinion, only a consequence of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly compelling evidence that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of Djokovic, that lost to Alcaraz in the following match and never especially seem like he believed he could win. This is perfectly fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his athletic abilities now, but has developed sufficient experience and tactical know-how to make up for a significant portion of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were expecting Fritz to prevail, and pressuring him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective presence in press conferences, more so than virtually everyone on the men's tour aside from the Russian star, prepared to not just say his emotions or the tactic he believed determined a contest, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for the United States not spawn a male major champion since the last American titlist feels 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

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I don’t do it,” the American informed an interviewer in the summer of claiming a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying empire is in fact highly unlikely for all other players. {