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I have a few thoughts regarding that remarks delivered by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player in the US Open last eight. Consider – the athlete represents American, Fowler is from the US – and sports often encourage nationalism. A little bit of disappointment would have been appropriate. Rather, Fowler brought up the continued drought of American men at the majors: not one of them had lifted a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone love a storyline, myself included. But really. Even if the American had beaten the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was looming in the next round, whom he has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And had he someway survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the last seven major titles (plus Alcaraz went on to thrash a tired Serbian in the next round). He stated in post-match interviews after the loss that he in fact liked his path, because it offered the chance to defeat the top three competitors in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is well justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an competitor is supposed to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final who else sensibly had the drought of US winners in mind?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing standing in her way and consistent victories

The American, twenty-eight, is placed fourth in the world entering the upcoming year-end championships and has won his previous six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as far as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite serve and concussive power on both front side and reverse side are more than enough to dispose of the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is frequently helpless. The last several seasons has seen the curious rise of tall, gangly players who can nevertheless cover the court with the surprising speed and fluidity of smaller men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the other player was controlling, and hitting a soft shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a quite severe limitation on his upside.

Fritz has made a number of dramatic, improbable advancements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the top 30. Two years after, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he suddenly exploded to fourth place – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a declining Djokovic, is the highest of all. What could the commentator have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing drought of US male players winning major titles when Fritz had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply excessive and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

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

The American's play in that exact quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an indication. The Serbian won in four rounds, a victory that only felt tenuous for brief periods 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 opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued break point after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the brink of agony. When he eventually did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a horrendous service game to drop serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and forced him to expend far too much effort to win it. Down set points in the last game, his primary delivery floated to heaven. He prolonged the contest two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, just a result of needing to hit too many second serves.

The contest was quite compelling evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of Djokovic, that was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and never especially appeared like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the best player ever, and might not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has acquired enough experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is those who were anticipating Fritz to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he could.

The American is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a patient, reflective voice in press conferences, exceeding virtually anyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only say his emotions or the tactic he felt determined a match, but clarify it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States not spawn a male major champion since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Division

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

“I would likely think about it forever if I don’t do it,” the American told a journalist in June of claiming a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is actually highly improbable for all other players. {