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I possess some thoughts regarding that comments delivered by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz during the US Open quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is American, the commentator is American – and sports often encourage nationalism. Some letdown would have been appropriate. Rather, Fowler brought up the ongoing absence of American men at the majors: none of them had lifted a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all love a storyline, myself included. But really. Even if Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the next round, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven grand slams (and Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). He said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact liked his draw, because it offered the chance to defeat the top three players in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is more than justified to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is supposed to have faith in themselves. But entering that Djokovic quarter-final what other person sensibly had the lack of American champions on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed fourth in the world entering the upcoming year-end championships and has secured his last six encounters over third-ranked the German with growing comfort. It's likely he might take that spot for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that at present, that’s as far as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s elite delivery and concussive strength on both forehand and backhand are sufficiently adequate to defeat the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is frequently helpless. The past few years has witnessed the interesting rise of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless cover the court with the alarming quickness and fluidity of much shorter players. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the other player was dictating, and hitting a drop shot against him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a pretty severe limitation on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a number of dramatic, improbable advancements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was approaching the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly surged up to fourth place – and held the position. But the next leap, competing against and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a aging Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was Fowler thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing drought of American men lifting grand slams when Fritz had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the task too little.

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

The American's play in that very quarter-final ought to have been enough of an indication. The Serbian won in four sets, a win that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the conclusion, when the American had survived a few championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the rallies, with the American creating numerous chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the run to the point of frustration. When Fritz eventually did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a horrendous game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and forced him to use far too much energy to win it. Facing match points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve floated to the sky. He prolonged the contest twice on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, just a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The match was fairly compelling proof that Fritz is not good enough to defeat any form of the Serbian, who lost to the Spaniard in the following match and did not particularly seem like he thought he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – the Serbian is the best player ever, 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 a significant portion of the drop-off. The problem is those who were anticipating Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he could.

The American is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a patient, reflective presence in press conferences, more so than almost anyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just say how he feels or the tactic he believed determined a contest, but clarify it. That he should bear the brunt of the blame for America failing to produce a male major champion since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Group

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” the American informed a journalist in the summer of claiming a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is actually extremely improbable for everybody else. {