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I have a few thoughts about the comments made by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz during the New York major quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents American, Fowler is American – and athletic competitions frequently lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of letdown would have been understandable. Rather, he invoked the continued absence of American men at the majors: not one of them has won a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone enjoy a storyline, myself included. But really. Even if the American defeated the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, who Fritz has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven grand slams (and the Spaniard proceeded to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the next round). He stated in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually liked his path, because it offered the chance to beat the three best players in the sport in succession. He is more than within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final who else sensibly had the drought of US winners in mind?

The American star's weaker delivery the sole barrier standing in her way and consistent victories

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed fourth in the world starting this week’s year-end championships and has won his previous six matches over third-ranked the German with growing comfort. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that right now, that is as high as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and concussive strength on each forehand and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to defeat the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. Against the select few generational talents, however, he is often overmatched. The last several years has witnessed the curious rise of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless move around with the surprising speed and fluidity of smaller men. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was controlling, and playing a soft shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a pretty severe limitation on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a several dramatic, improbable advancements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged to No 4 – and held the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a declining Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing slump of American men winning major titles when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

The American star achieved a career-best run to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

The American's play in that very last eight match should have been sufficient of an indication. The Serbian triumphed in four sets, a win that only felt tenuous for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz creating plenty of opportunities to break. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the streak to the brink of agony. When Fritz finally did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a horrendous game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and forced him to use excessive effort to win it. Facing match points in the final game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to heaven. He prolonged the contest two times on his second serve, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a choke, in my opinion, just a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The match was quite ironclad proof that Fritz is not good enough to beat any version of Djokovic, that lost to Alcaraz in the following match and did not especially appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired enough experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is those who were anticipating the American to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that indicated he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in press conferences, exceeding almost anyone on the ATP aside from the Russian star, willing to not only express how he feels or the tactic he believed decided a match, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the blame for America failing to spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Division

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely think about it forever if I don’t accomplish it,” the American told a journalist in the summer of claiming a grand slam. It is hoped he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable empire is in fact extremely improbable for everybody else. {