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I possess a few thoughts about that comments delivered by ESPN broadcaster Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz in the US Open last eight. Look – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is American – and sports frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment would have been appropriate. Instead, Fowler brought up the continued drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them had lifted a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

Everyone enjoy a narrative, me too. But come on. Suppose Fritz defeated the legend for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And had he somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven major titles (plus Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a tired Djokovic in the next round). He stated in post-match interviews after the loss that he in fact liked his draw, because it presented the chance to defeat the three best players in the world in succession. He is more than justified to aim for the achievement; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the drought of US winners on the brain?

The American star's weaker delivery the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

The American, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the world entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his previous six matches over No 3 the German with increasing ease. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that is as high as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. His elite serve and concussive strength on both forehand and reverse side are more than enough to defeat most opponents on the professional circuit. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is often overmatched. The past few seasons has seen the curious rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless move around with the surprising speed and grace of smaller players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was dictating, and hitting a drop shot versus him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty severe restriction on his potential.

Fritz has made a number of dramatic, unexpected advancements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged up to fourth place – and held the spot. But the next leap, competing against and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and even a aging Serbian, 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 appropriate mentioning the ongoing slump of US male players lifting grand slams when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

Taylor Fritz achieved a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon last four in July.

Fritz’s play in that exact last eight match ought to have been enough of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only seemed tenuous for moments towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a couple match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz creating plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved break point after break point, extending the run to the brink of frustration. When he finally did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a terrible service game to drop serve again; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and forced him to use excessive energy to prevail. Down match points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery sailed to heaven. He extended the contest two times on his second serve, 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 ironclad proof that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of Djokovic, that lost to Alcaraz in the next round and did not particularly appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is perfectly fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities anymore, but has developed sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is those who were anticipating the American to win, and pressuring him to do so, when he was yet to accomplished anything that indicated he would.

The American is an asset to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in media sessions, more so than almost everyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only say his emotions or the tactic he believed determined a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for America failing to produce a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can share that burden.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

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

Swedish icon Group

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

“I’d probably think about it forever if I don’t accomplish it,” the American informed an interviewer in June of winning a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is in fact extremely improbable for everybody else. {