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I have a few thoughts regarding that remarks made by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's victory over the American player in the New York major last eight. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is American – and sports frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment would have been understandable. Rather, he brought up the continued drought of American men at the majors: none of them had lifted a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the competition.

Everyone love a storyline, myself included. But come on. Suppose Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the first time, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the following match, whom Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he someway survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the last seven grand slams (and the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a tired Serbian in the next round). He said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact preferred his draw, because it presented the chance to beat the three best competitors in the sport in succession. Fritz is more than justified to aim for the achievement; an competitor is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final what other person sensibly had the drought of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier standing in her way and consistent victories

Fritz, 28, is ranked number four in the global rankings entering the upcoming year-end championships and has secured his last six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that’s as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class serve and concussive strength on both forehand and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to defeat the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. Against the handful of generational talents, though, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The last several years has witnessed the interesting rise of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless move around with the alarming quickness and fluidity of much shorter men. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was dictating, and hitting a drop shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a pretty harsh restriction on his potential.

The American has made a several dramatic, improbable advancements throughout his career. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly exploded to fourth place – and held the spot. But the next leap, competing against and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and even a aging Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was 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 continuing drought of US male players lifting grand slams when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

The American star achieved a career-best advancement to the All England Club last four in July.

The American's performance in that very last eight match should have been enough of an indication. Djokovic won in four rounds, a win that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had survived a couple match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American creating numerous chances to break. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the streak to the point of frustration. When Fritz eventually did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a terrible game to lose his own serve again; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and compelled him to use excessive energy to win it. Facing set points in the last game, his primary delivery floated to the sky. He prolonged the contest twice on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, only a consequence of having to hit too many second serves.

The contest was fairly compelling evidence that the American is not good enough to beat any form of the Serbian, who lost to the Spaniard in the next round and did not especially appeared like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the best player ever, and might not be at the height of his physical powers anymore, but has acquired enough experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is those who were expecting the American to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in press conferences, more so than virtually everyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just express his emotions or the tactic he believed determined a contest, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States not spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

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

Swedish icon Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” Fritz told an interviewer in the summer of winning a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he does not fulfill that objective, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable empire is in fact extremely improbable for everybody else. {