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I possess some opinions regarding that comments made by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz in the US Open last eight. Look – Fritz is American, the commentator is American – and sports frequently lend themselves to nationalism. Some disappointment was understandable. Instead, Fowler invoked the continued drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

We all love a storyline, myself included. But come on. Suppose Fritz had beaten the legend for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, who Fritz has never defeated in an official match. And had he somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven major titles (and the Spaniard went on to defeat a tired Djokovic in the next round). Fritz stated in post-match interviews after the loss that he in fact liked his draw, because it offered the chance to beat the top three competitors in the world back-to-back. Fritz is more than justified to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic last eight match who else in their right mind had the lack of American champions on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is ranked number four in the world entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six matches over third-ranked the German with growing comfort. Presumably he might claim that position for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that’s as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. His top-class serve and powerful strength on each front side and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to defeat most opponents on the professional circuit. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is often helpless. 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 players. He is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the other player was controlling, and playing a drop shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty harsh limitation on his potential.

The American has achieved a number of dramatic, improbable improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly surged to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a declining Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was Fowler thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing drought of American men winning grand slams when Fritz had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task too little.

Taylor Fritz achieved a career-best run to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

The American's play in that exact quarter-final should have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic triumphed in four rounds, a win that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with the American earning plenty of chances to break. But the champion saved break point after break point, extending the streak to the point of agony. When he eventually did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, 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 excessive energy to win it. Down set points in the last game, his primary delivery sailed to heaven. He extended the contest twice on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It was not a collapse, I didn’t think, just a result of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was fairly compelling proof that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of the Serbian, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the next round and did not particularly appeared like he thought he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his physical powers anymore, but has developed enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is those 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 tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in press conferences, exceeding virtually everyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just say his emotions or the tactic he felt determined a contest, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for America failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Division

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

Swedish icon Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• 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 an interviewer in June of claiming a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is actually highly improbable for all other players. {