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I possess a few thoughts about the remarks delivered by ESPN broadcaster Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz during the New York major quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is from the US – and sports frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown was appropriate. Instead, Fowler invoked the continued drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone love a narrative, me too. But really. Suppose Fritz had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the following match, who Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the next round). Fritz said in press following his defeat that he actually liked his path, because it presented the chance to defeat the three best competitors in the world in succession. He is well justified to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic last eight match who else sensibly had the drought of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier between her and sustained success

The American, twenty-eight, is ranked fourth in the global rankings entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that at present, that is as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite delivery and powerful strength on each forehand and backhand are more than enough to dispose of most rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is frequently helpless. The last several seasons has witnessed the curious emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless move around with the alarming speed and grace of smaller players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was controlling, and playing a drop shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a quite severe restriction on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a number of dramatic, improbable advancements throughout his career. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. 24 months later, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly exploded to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the next leap, competing against and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and even a declining Djokovic, is the highest of all. What could the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing slump of American men winning major titles when he had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task too little.

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

The American's performance in that very last eight match ought to have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only felt tenuous for moments towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a few championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the rallies, with the American earning plenty of chances to break. But the champion saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the streak to the brink of agony. When he eventually did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately produced a terrible game to drop serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and forced him to use far too much energy to win it. Down match points in the final game, his first serve floated to heaven. He prolonged the match two times on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, just a consequence of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was quite compelling evidence that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of Djokovic, that lost to Alcaraz in the next round and never especially seem like he believed he could win. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has developed enough experience and tactical know-how to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were expecting Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective presence in press conferences, exceeding almost anyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just say his emotions or the strategy he believed determined a contest, but explain it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Division

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I don’t accomplish it,” Fritz informed a journalist in June of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not achieve that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is actually extremely unlikely for everybody else. {