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I have a few thoughts about that remarks made by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player during the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is from the US – and sports often encourage patriotic sentiment. Some letdown would have been understandable. Rather, he brought up the ongoing drought of American men at the majors: none of them had lifted a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

Everyone love a narrative, me too. But come on. Suppose Fritz had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, who Fritz has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been title holder the Italian, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the previous seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz said in press following his defeat that he in fact liked his draw, because it presented the chance to defeat the three best players in the sport in succession. Fritz is well within his right to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic last eight match who else sensibly had the drought of American champions on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the sole barrier between her and consistent victories

The American, 28, is placed number four in the global rankings starting the upcoming year-end championships and has secured his last six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that right now, that is as far as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and powerful power on both forehand and backhand are more than adequate to dispose of the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is frequently helpless. The last several seasons has seen the interesting rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless move around with the surprising speed and fluidity of much shorter men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the opponent was dictating, and playing a soft shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty severe restriction on his upside.

The American has made a several dramatic, unexpected improvements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly exploded to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a aging Serbian, is the toughest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the ongoing drought of US male players winning grand slams when he had exited 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 advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

Fritz’s performance in that exact quarter-final should have been enough of an indication. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a victory that only felt tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had survived a few championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with the American creating numerous opportunities to break. But Djokovic rescued break point after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the point of frustration. When Fritz eventually did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately produced a terrible service game to lose his own serve again; the Serbian had lulled him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and compelled him to expend excessive energy to prevail. Facing set points in the final game, his first serve floated to heaven. He extended the contest two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, just a result of needing to hit too many second serves.

The match was quite ironclad evidence that the American is not good enough to beat any version of the Serbian, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and did not particularly seem like he thought he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has acquired enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were expecting the American to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not done anything that suggested he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in press conferences, exceeding almost everyone on the men's tour except for the Russian star, prepared to not just say his emotions or the strategy he believed decided a contest, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the blame for the United States not spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Division

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

“I’d probably think about it forever if I don’t accomplish it,” the American informed an interviewer in June of winning a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not a failure if he does not achieve that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is in fact extremely unlikely for all other players. {