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I have some opinions regarding that comments made by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz during the New York major last eight. Consider – the athlete represents American, Fowler is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment would have been understandable. Instead, Fowler brought up the ongoing drought of American men at the majors: none of them had lifted a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the competition.

We all love a storyline, myself included. But really. Suppose Fritz defeated the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the next round, who Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he someway survived that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz said in post-match interviews after the loss that he in fact liked his path, because it presented the opportunity to beat the three best players in the sport back-to-back. He is well justified to aim for the accomplishment; an competitor is supposed to believe in themselves. But entering that Djokovic last eight match who else in their right mind had the lack of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is placed number four in the global rankings starting this week’s year-end championships and has secured his last six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. Presumably he might take that spot for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that at present, that is as high as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite serve and concussive strength on each forehand and reverse side are sufficiently enough to dispose of most opponents on the ATP tour. Against the select few generational talents, though, he is often helpless. The past few years has witnessed the interesting emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless cover the court with the surprising speed and fluidity of much shorter players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His footwork is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and playing a drop shot versus him is usually a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite severe limitation on his potential.

The American has achieved a number of dramatic, improbable improvements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the bottom of the top 30. 24 months later, he was sniffing the top 10. The previous season, he unexpectedly exploded up to fourth place – and maintained the position. But the next leap, competing against and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a aging Djokovic, is the highest of all. What was Fowler thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing drought of American men winning grand slams when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

The American star made a career-best run to the All England Club semi-finals in the summer.

The American's play in that very quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic won in four rounds, a win that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a few championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the rallies, with the American earning numerous chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued break point after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the point of frustration. When Fritz eventually did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a horrendous game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle secondary to the main contest and forced him to use far too much energy to prevail. Down set points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to heaven. He prolonged the contest two times on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, just a result of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The match was quite compelling evidence that the American is not good enough to beat any version of the Serbian, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and did not particularly appeared like he believed he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The issue is those who were expecting Fritz to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that suggested he would.

The American is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in media sessions, more so than almost anyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only express how he feels or the strategy he felt determined a contest, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for America failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Division

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

Bjorn Borg Group

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I don’t do it,” the American told an interviewer in the summer of claiming a major. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable empire is in fact highly improbable for all other players. {