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I possess a few opinions about that comments delivered by ESPN broadcaster a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player during the New York major quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents American, Fowler is American – and athletic competitions often lend themselves to nationalism. Some letdown would have been understandable. Instead, he brought up the continued drought of US male players 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.

Everyone enjoy a storyline, me too. But really. Suppose Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, whom he has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him Fritz had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven major titles (plus the Spaniard went on to defeat a tired Djokovic in the next round). He stated in press after the loss that he actually preferred his path, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the top three players in the sport back-to-back. He is more than justified to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final who else in their right mind had the lack of US winners on the brain?

The American star's second serve the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

The American, 28, is ranked number four in the world entering this week’s year-end championships and has won his last six matches over third-ranked the German 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 high as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class serve and concussive power on each forehand and reverse side are sufficiently enough to dispose of the majority of rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of generational talents, however, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The past few seasons has seen the interesting rise of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless cover the court with the alarming quickness and grace of much shorter players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and playing a soft shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite severe limitation on his potential.

The American has achieved a several dramatic, improbable improvements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was sniffing the top 10. The previous season, he unexpectedly exploded to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a aging Djokovic, is the toughest 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 worth mentioning the continuing drought of US male players winning major titles when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

The American star made a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

Fritz’s play in that very last eight match should have been enough of an indication. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a win that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz creating plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the streak to the point of frustration. When he finally did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a horrendous service game to drop serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the real battle and forced him to use far too much energy to prevail. Down set points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to heaven. He prolonged the contest two times on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It was not a collapse, I didn’t think, only a consequence of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was quite ironclad evidence that the American is not good enough to beat any form of Djokovic, who lost to the Spaniard in the following match and did not particularly appeared like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is those who were anticipating the American to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in press conferences, exceeding almost anyone on the ATP aside from the Russian star, willing to not just express his emotions or the strategy he believed determined a match, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America not produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unjust. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Division

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably think about it forever if I fail to do it,” the American told an interviewer in the summer 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 young, terrifying empire is actually highly improbable for everybody else. {