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I possess a few opinions regarding that remarks delivered by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer after the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz during the US Open last eight. Consider – the athlete represents American, Fowler is American – and sports often encourage nationalism. Some disappointment would have been understandable. Instead, he brought up the continued absence 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.

We all love a storyline, myself included. But come on. Even if the American defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, whom he has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d someway survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the last seven major titles (plus the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). Fritz stated in press following his defeat that he in fact preferred his draw, because it presented the opportunity to beat the top three competitors in the sport in succession. Fritz is more than justified to aim for the achievement; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final who else sensibly had the lack of US winners in mind?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing between her and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is ranked fourth in the global rankings starting this week’s year-end championships and has won his previous six encounters over third-ranked the German with increasing ease. Presumably he might claim that position for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that’s as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of ranking points away. His top-class delivery and concussive strength on both front side and reverse side are more than adequate to defeat the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. Against the handful of generational talents, though, he is frequently helpless. The past few seasons has witnessed the interesting emergence of tall, gangly players who can nevertheless move around with the alarming quickness and fluidity of much shorter men. Fritz is six-foot-five and appears that way. His footwork is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the other player was dictating, and playing a soft shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite severe restriction on his upside.

The American has achieved a several significant, improbable improvements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded to fourth place – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a aging Serbian, is the toughest of all. What could Fowler thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing drought of American men winning major titles when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the appreciation for the magnitude of the challenge insufficient.

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

The American's performance in that exact quarter-final ought to have been enough of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only felt tenuous for moments towards the very end, when the American had saved a few championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the rallies, with the American creating numerous chances to break. But Djokovic saved break point after break point, prolonging the streak to the brink of frustration. When Fritz eventually did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a terrible service game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle secondary to the main contest and compelled him to expend excessive energy to prevail. Down match points in the last game, his primary delivery sailed to the sky. He extended the contest two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a choke, in my opinion, just a result of needing to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The match was quite ironclad evidence that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of the Serbian, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the next round and never especially seem like he thought he could win. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and might not be at the height of his athletic abilities now, but has developed sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to make up for a significant portion of the decline. The problem is those who were expecting the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not done anything that indicated he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in media sessions, exceeding virtually everyone on the ATP except for the Russian star, willing to not only say his emotions or the strategy he believed determined a match, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for America failing to spawn a male major champion since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

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

Swedish icon Division

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” the American told an interviewer in June of winning a major. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he does not fulfill that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable empire is in fact extremely improbable for all other players. {