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I have some opinions about that remarks delivered by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz during the New York major quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is from the US – and sports frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment was appropriate. Instead, he invoked the continued absence of US male players at the majors: none of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone enjoy a storyline, myself included. But really. Even if Fritz defeated the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was waiting in the next round, whom he has yet to beat in an official match. And had he somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven major titles (plus the Spaniard went on to defeat a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). He stated in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually preferred his draw, because it offered the chance to beat the three best competitors in the world in succession. Fritz is well within his right to aim for the achievement; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final what other person sensibly had the lack 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 starting the upcoming year-end championships and has won his last six encounters over No 3 the German with increasing ease. It's likely he might take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that’s as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class serve and concussive power on both front side and backhand are more than adequate to defeat the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is often helpless. The past few seasons has seen the interesting emergence of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless move around with the surprising quickness and grace of much shorter players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the other player was controlling, and hitting a soft shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a pretty severe limitation on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a number of dramatic, unexpected improvements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was sniffing the top 10. The previous season, he suddenly exploded to fourth place – and maintained the position. But the next leap, competing against and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a aging Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was Fowler thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the continuing slump of American men lifting grand slams when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply too much and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

The American star made a personal best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

The American's play in that very quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic won in four rounds, a victory that only felt tenuous for moments towards the conclusion, when the American had saved a few championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz earning numerous opportunities to break. But the champion saved break point after break point, prolonging the streak to the point of agony. When Fritz finally did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a horrendous service game to lose his own serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a battle peripheral to the real battle and forced him to use excessive energy to win it. Down set points in the last game, his primary delivery sailed to the sky. He prolonged the contest two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, just a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The match was quite compelling evidence that the American is insufficiently skilled to beat any form of Djokovic, that lost to the Spaniard in the following match and did not particularly appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has acquired sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating the American to win, and pressuring him to do so, when he was had not done anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in media sessions, more so than virtually anyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just express his emotions or the tactic he believed decided a match, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unjust. (Since Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz told a journalist in the summer of winning a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is in fact extremely improbable for all other players. {