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I have some opinions about that remarks made by ESPN broadcaster a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz in the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents American, Fowler is American – and athletic competitions often encourage nationalism. Some letdown would have been understandable. Instead, he brought up the ongoing drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: none of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all enjoy a storyline, me too. But really. Suppose the American had beaten 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 Jannik Sinner, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven major titles (plus Alcaraz went on to thrash a tired Serbian in the next round). Fritz said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually preferred his path, because it presented the opportunity to beat the top three players in the world in succession. Fritz is well within his right to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final who else in their right mind had the drought of American champions on the brain?

The American star's weaker delivery the sole barrier between her and consistent victories

The American, twenty-eight, is ranked fourth in the global rankings entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that’s as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite delivery and powerful strength on each front side and backhand are sufficiently enough to defeat the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. Against the select few generational talents, however, Fritz is often helpless. The last several seasons has witnessed the curious rise of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless move around with the surprising speed and grace of much shorter players. He is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the other player was dictating, and hitting a soft shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a quite severe restriction on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a several significant, improbable advancements over the years. Early on of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded up to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a declining Djokovic, 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 slump of American men winning major titles when Fritz had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just 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.

The American's play in that exact last eight match ought to have been enough of an sign. Djokovic won in four sets, a victory that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the conclusion, when the American had survived a few championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with the American creating plenty of opportunities to break. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the run to the brink of agony. When he eventually did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a horrendous service game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and forced him to expend excessive effort to win it. Facing match points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery sailed to heaven. He extended the match twice on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, just a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly ironclad proof that the American is insufficiently skilled to beat any version of Djokovic, that lost to the Spaniard in the following match and never particularly appeared 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 anymore, but has developed sufficient experience and tactical know-how to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were anticipating the American to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the tour regardless. He’s a patient, reflective presence in press conferences, exceeding virtually anyone on the ATP except for the Russian star, prepared to not only express how he feels or the tactic he believed determined a match, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America not spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

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

Swedish icon Division

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably think about it forever if I don’t do it,” Fritz told a journalist in the summer of winning a major. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not a failure if he does not fulfill that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is in fact highly improbable for all other players. {