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I possess a few thoughts regarding the remarks delivered by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz during the US Open last eight. Look – the athlete represents American, the commentator is American – and sports often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment was appropriate. Rather, Fowler invoked the continued drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the competition.

We all enjoy a storyline, me too. But come on. Suppose Fritz defeated the legend for the first time, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the next round, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an official match. And had he somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, versus him Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven grand slams (and the Spaniard went on to defeat a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). He stated in press after the loss that he in fact liked his draw, because it offered the chance to defeat the three best players in the world in succession. Fritz is more than within his right to aim for the achievement; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final what other person sensibly had the lack of US winners in mind?

The American star's second serve the sole barrier between her and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is ranked number four in the world entering this week’s year-end championships and has secured his last six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that is as far as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and powerful power on both forehand and backhand are more than enough to dispose of most rivals on the ATP tour. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is often helpless. The last several years has seen the interesting emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nevertheless move around with the surprising quickness and grace of much shorter players. He is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the other player was dictating, and playing a soft shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a pretty harsh limitation on his upside.

The American has achieved a several dramatic, unexpected advancements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What could the commentator have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing drought of American men lifting grand slams when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

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

The American's play in that very last eight match should have been sufficient of an indication. The Serbian won in four sets, a victory that only felt tenuous for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had survived a couple match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz earning numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued break point after break point, prolonging the run to the point of frustration. When Fritz eventually did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a horrendous service game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and compelled him to expend far too much effort to win it. Down match points in the last game, his primary delivery floated to the sky. He extended the contest two times on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, only a result of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly compelling evidence that the American is not good enough to beat any form of Djokovic, who lost to the Spaniard in the next round and did not especially appeared like he thought he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the decline. The problem is those who were anticipating Fritz to win, and pressuring him to do so, when he was had not accomplished anything that indicated he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in press conferences, more so than virtually anyone on the ATP aside from the Russian star, willing to not just express his emotions or the tactic he believed decided a contest, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for the United States failing to spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I don’t do it,” Fritz informed a journalist in June of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is actually highly improbable for everybody else. {