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I possess a few opinions about the comments delivered by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz during the New York major quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is American, the commentator is American – and sports often encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment was appropriate. Instead, he brought up the continued absence of American men at the majors: not one of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone love a storyline, myself included. But really. Suppose the American defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, who Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d someway survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also divided the last seven major titles (plus the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a tired Serbian in the next round). He said in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually preferred his path, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the top three players in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is well within his right to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final who else sensibly had the drought of American champions on the brain?

The American star's second serve the sole barrier standing in her way and consistent victories

The American, 28, is placed fourth in the global rankings entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his previous six encounters over third-ranked the German with growing comfort. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that right now, that is as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. His elite serve and concussive power on each forehand and backhand are sufficiently enough to dispose of most rivals on the professional circuit. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is often overmatched. The last several seasons has witnessed the curious emergence of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless move around with the surprising speed and grace of smaller men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a soft shot versus him is usually a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite severe limitation on his upside.

The American has made a number of significant, improbable advancements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was sniffing the top 10. The previous season, he unexpectedly exploded up to No 4 – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, Sinner, 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 US male players lifting grand slams when Fritz had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the task too little.

The American star achieved a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon last four in the summer.

The American's performance in that very quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the conclusion, when Fritz had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz earning numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued break point after break point, extending the run to the point of agony. When Fritz finally did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a horrendous game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle secondary to the main contest and forced him to expend far too much effort to prevail. Facing set points in the final game, his first serve floated to heaven. He extended the contest two times on his second serve, but ultimately double-faulted. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, only a result of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite ironclad proof that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any form of Djokovic, that lost to the Spaniard in the next round and did not 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 peak of his physical powers now, but has developed enough knowledge and tactical know-how to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The issue is the individuals who were expecting Fritz to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that indicated he would.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in media sessions, more so than almost everyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only say his emotions or the tactic he believed determined a contest, but explain it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America failing to spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Division

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

“I would likely dwell on it indefinitely if I don’t do it,” the American told a journalist in June of claiming a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is in fact extremely unlikely for all other players. {