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I have a few thoughts about the comments delivered by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer after the Serbian champion's victory over the American player in the US Open quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is American – and sports frequently lend themselves to nationalism. Some disappointment was understandable. Instead, he invoked the continued drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them has won a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the competition.

Everyone love a narrative, myself included. But come on. Even if Fritz had beaten the legend for the first time, force of nature the Spanish star was waiting in the following match, who Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And had he somehow survived that, it would have been title holder the Italian, versus him Fritz had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven major titles (plus Alcaraz went on to thrash a tired Serbian in the subsequent match). He stated in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually preferred his path, because it presented the opportunity to beat the top three players in the sport in succession. He is more than justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But entering that Djokovic last eight match what other person sensibly had the drought of US winners on the brain?

The American star's second serve the sole barrier between her and consistent victories

Fritz, twenty-eight, is ranked fourth in the world starting the upcoming year-end championships and has secured his previous six matches over third-ranked the German with growing comfort. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that at present, that’s as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class serve and concussive strength on both forehand and backhand are sufficiently adequate to defeat most rivals on the ATP tour. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is often overmatched. The last several seasons has seen the interesting rise of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless cover the court with the alarming speed and fluidity of smaller players. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a soft shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty severe limitation on his upside.

The American has made a several significant, improbable advancements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly surged up to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a aging Serbian, is the toughest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing drought of American men lifting grand slams when Fritz had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply too much and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

The American star made a career-best run to the Wimbledon semi-finals in the summer.

Fritz’s play in that exact last eight match should have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic won in four rounds, a victory that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a few championship opportunities and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz earning plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the run to the point of frustration. When Fritz eventually did claim a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a terrible service game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and forced him to expend far too much effort to prevail. Facing set points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to heaven. He prolonged the match twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, 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 seem 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 knowledge and tactical know-how to make up for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he would.

The American is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in media sessions, exceeding virtually everyone on the men's tour aside from the Russian star, willing to not only say how he feels or the tactic he believed determined a match, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for the United States failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

American legend Group

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Group

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably dwell on it forever if I fail to accomplish it,” the American informed a journalist in June of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is in fact highly unlikely for all other players. {