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I have a few opinions regarding the remarks made by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz in the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – Fritz is American, the commentator is from the US – and athletic competitions often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment would have been appropriate. Rather, Fowler brought up the continued absence of American men at the majors: none of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all love a storyline, myself included. But come on. Suppose Fritz defeated the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the following match, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been title holder the Italian, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the last seven major titles (plus Alcaraz went on to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). He said in press after the loss that he actually liked his draw, because it presented the chance to defeat the top three players in the sport in succession. Fritz is more than within his right to aim for the achievement; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final who else in their right mind had the lack of American champions on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing between her and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the world entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that right now, that is as far as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite serve and concussive power on each front side and backhand are more than adequate to dispose of most opponents on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is often overmatched. The last several seasons has seen the interesting rise of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless move around with the alarming speed and fluidity of much shorter men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the other player was dictating, and hitting a drop shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite severe limitation on his potential.

The American has made a number of dramatic, improbable advancements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the top 30. Two years after, he was approaching the top 10. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged up to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the next leap, competing against and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What could the commentator have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the continuing drought of American men lifting grand slams when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply too much and the respect for the magnitude of the task too little.

Taylor Fritz achieved a career-best run to the All England Club semi-finals in July.

The American's play in that exact last eight match should have been enough of an sign. Djokovic won in four rounds, a victory that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had survived a few championship opportunities and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American earning numerous opportunities to break. But the champion rescued break point after break point, prolonging the streak to the point of agony. When he finally did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a terrible game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and forced him to use excessive effort to prevail. Facing set points in the final game, his primary delivery floated to heaven. He extended the match two times on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, just a consequence of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was quite compelling proof that the American is not good enough to beat any form of the Serbian, that lost to Alcaraz in the next round and did not especially appeared like he thought he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – Djokovic is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the decline. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to win, and pressuring him to do so, when he was yet to accomplished anything that indicated he could.

The American is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in press conferences, more so than virtually anyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only say his emotions or the strategy he felt determined a match, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for America not spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, maybe they can share that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Division

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

“I’d probably dwell on it forever if I fail to do it,” the American informed an interviewer in June of winning a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is actually highly unlikely for everybody else. {