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I have some opinions regarding the comments made by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz in the New York major quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents American, the commentator is from the US – and sports often encourage patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment would have been understandable. Instead, Fowler invoked the ongoing drought of American men at the majors: not one of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the competition.

We all enjoy a storyline, me too. But really. Suppose Fritz defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was waiting in the next round, who he has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven major titles (plus the Spaniard went on to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the next round). Fritz stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually liked his path, because it presented the chance to beat the top three competitors in the sport in succession. He is more than justified to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final who else sensibly had the drought of American champions on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the only thing between her and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the world starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his previous six encounters over No 3 the German with increasing ease. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that’s as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of ranking points away. Fritz’s elite serve and concussive strength on each forehand and reverse side are more than enough to defeat most rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is frequently overmatched. The past few seasons has seen the interesting rise of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless move around with the alarming speed and fluidity of much shorter players. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His movement is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the other player was dictating, and hitting a drop shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite harsh limitation on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a number of dramatic, improbable advancements throughout his career. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged up to fourth place – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and even a declining Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing drought of US male players lifting grand slams when he had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

Taylor Fritz made a career-best run to the All England Club last four in the summer.

Fritz’s play in that very last eight match ought to have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a victory that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The duo looked 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 streak to the point of agony. When Fritz finally did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a terrible service game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle secondary to the main contest and compelled him to use far too much effort to win it. Down match points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to heaven. He prolonged the match twice on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It was not a choke, in my opinion, just a result of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly ironclad proof that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of the Serbian, that lost to Alcaraz in the following match and did not particularly seem like he believed he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his physical powers anymore, but has developed enough experience and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that indicated he could.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in press conferences, more so than almost everyone on the ATP except for the Russian star, willing to not only express how he feels or the tactic he believed decided a contest, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for America failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can share that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Division

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

“I would likely dwell on it indefinitely if I don’t do it,” Fritz informed a journalist in the summer of claiming a major. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is in fact extremely unlikely for everybody else. {