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I possess some thoughts regarding that remarks made by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer after the Serbian champion's win over the American player during the US Open last eight. Look – the athlete represents American, Fowler is American – and sports often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment was appropriate. Rather, he invoked the continued absence of American men at grand slam tournaments: none of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick 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 first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, who he has never defeated in an official match. And had he someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven major titles (and the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the next round). Fritz said in press after the loss that he in fact preferred his path, because it offered the chance to beat the three best players in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is well justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final what other person sensibly had the lack of American champions in mind?

The American star's weaker delivery the sole barrier standing in her way and consistent victories

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the global rankings starting the upcoming year-end championships and has won his previous six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that is as high as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a chasm of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class serve and powerful strength on each front side and reverse side are more than adequate to dispose of most opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is often helpless. The last several seasons has witnessed the interesting rise of tall, gangly players who can nevertheless move around with the surprising speed and grace of smaller players. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the opponent was controlling, and playing a drop shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a pretty harsh restriction on his potential.

The American has achieved a several dramatic, improbable improvements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. Two years later, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he suddenly surged to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and even a declining Djokovic, is the highest of all. What could the commentator have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing slump of US male players winning major titles when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

The American star achieved a personal best run to the Wimbledon last four in July.

Fritz’s play in that very quarter-final should have been enough of an indication. Djokovic won in four rounds, a win that only seemed tenuous for moments towards the very end, when the American had survived a few match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz earning numerous opportunities to break. But the champion saved break point after break point, extending the streak to the brink of frustration. When he eventually did claim one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a terrible game to drop serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and forced him to use excessive effort to win it. Facing match points in the last game, his first serve sailed to the sky. He extended the contest two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, just a result of needing to hit too many second serves.

The contest was quite ironclad proof that Fritz is not good enough to beat any version of the Serbian, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and never particularly appeared like he believed he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, but has developed enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The issue is those who were expecting Fritz to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not 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 almost anyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just express how he feels or the strategy he believed determined a contest, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America not spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can share that burden.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Division

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Division

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” the American told an interviewer in June of winning a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not fulfill that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is in fact extremely improbable for everybody else. {