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I possess a few thoughts regarding 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 American, the commentator is from the US – and sports often encourage nationalism. A little bit of disappointment would have been appropriate. Instead, he invoked the ongoing drought of US male players at the majors: not one of them had lifted a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

Everyone love a storyline, myself included. But come on. Suppose Fritz defeated the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, who he has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a tired Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz said in press following his defeat that he in fact liked his path, because it offered the chance to beat the three best players in the world in succession. Fritz is well justified to aim for the accomplishment; an competitor is supposed to believe in themselves. But entering that Djokovic last eight match what other person in their right mind had the drought of American champions in mind?

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Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the world starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six encounters over third-ranked the German with growing comfort. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that’s as far as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. His top-class serve and powerful power on both forehand and backhand are sufficiently adequate to dispose of most opponents on the ATP tour. Against the handful of generational talents, though, Fritz is frequently helpless. The last several years has witnessed the interesting emergence of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless move around with the surprising quickness and grace of smaller players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he seldom win a rally that the opponent was controlling, and playing a soft shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a quite harsh limitation on his upside.

The American has achieved a number of dramatic, unexpected improvements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the top 30. 24 months later, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly exploded to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and even a aging Djokovic, is the highest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing drought of US male players winning grand slams when he had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task too little.

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

The American's play in that exact quarter-final ought to have been enough of an indication. Djokovic won in four rounds, a victory that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had survived a couple match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz earning numerous chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued break point after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the point of agony. When he eventually did claim one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a terrible service game to drop serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and forced him to expend excessive effort to win it. Down set points in the last game, his first serve floated to the sky. He prolonged the match twice on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, just a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was quite compelling proof that the American is not good enough to beat any form of Djokovic, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and never particularly seem like he thought he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has developed sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating the American to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he would.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in media sessions, more so than virtually everyone on the men's tour except for the Russian star, prepared to not only say how he feels or the tactic he felt decided a contest, but clarify it. That he should bear the brunt of the blame for the United States failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Since Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

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

Bjorn Borg Group

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

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I fail to do it,” the American informed a journalist in the summer of claiming a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is in fact highly unlikely for all other players. {