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I possess a few opinions regarding that comments made by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz during the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents American, Fowler is American – and athletic competitions frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown was appropriate. Instead, he brought up the continued drought of US male players at the majors: none of them has won a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone enjoy a storyline, myself included. But come on. Even if the American defeated the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the next round, whom he has never defeated in an official match. And had he somehow survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven grand slams (and Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the next round). He stated in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually preferred his path, because it presented the chance to defeat the top three competitors in the world in succession. He is more than within his right to aim for the accomplishment; an competitor is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic last eight match who else sensibly had the drought of US winners in mind?

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

The American, 28, is placed fourth in the world entering this week’s year-end championships and has won his previous six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he could claim that position for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that is as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class serve and concussive strength on both forehand and reverse side are more than adequate to defeat most rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is often overmatched. The last several years has witnessed the interesting rise of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless cover the court with the alarming quickness and fluidity of much shorter men. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the other player was controlling, and hitting a soft shot against him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a pretty severe restriction on his potential.

The American has achieved a number of significant, unexpected improvements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the top 30. Two years later, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly surged up to No 4 – and held the position. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What was Fowler thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate 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 simply too much and the appreciation for the magnitude of the task too little.

Taylor Fritz made a career-best run to the Wimbledon last four in the summer.

Fritz’s play in that exact quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an indication. The Serbian won in four sets, a victory that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the conclusion, when the American had saved a couple match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz creating plenty of opportunities to break. But Djokovic rescued break point after break point, prolonging the run to the brink of frustration. When Fritz eventually did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately played a horrendous game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and compelled him to use far too much energy to prevail. Down match points in the final game, his first serve sailed to heaven. He extended the contest two times on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It was not a collapse, I didn’t think, just a consequence of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly compelling evidence that the American is not good enough to defeat any form of Djokovic, that lost to Alcaraz in the next round and did not particularly appeared like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has developed sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the drop-off. The problem is those who were anticipating the American to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he would.

The American is an asset to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, reflective presence in media sessions, more so than virtually everyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only express how he feels or the strategy he felt decided a contest, but explain it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the responsibility for the United States failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Group

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

“I would likely think about it forever if I fail to do it,” Fritz informed a journalist in June of winning a major. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not fulfill that goal, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is actually highly unlikely for all other players. {