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I have a few opinions regarding the comments delivered by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's win over the American player in the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – Fritz is American, Fowler is from the US – and sports often encourage patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment would have been understandable. Instead, he invoked the ongoing drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the competition.

Everyone enjoy a storyline, me too. But come on. Suppose the American defeated Djokovic for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the next round, whom he has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a tired Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually liked his draw, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the top three competitors in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is well justified to aim for the accomplishment; an competitor is meant to believe in themselves. But entering that Serbian last eight match what other person sensibly had the drought of American champions in mind?

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

Fritz, 28, is ranked fourth in the world entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that is as far as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and powerful power on each forehand and backhand are sufficiently adequate to defeat most opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the select few generational talents, however, Fritz is often overmatched. The last several years has witnessed the interesting emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless move around with the surprising speed and fluidity of much shorter players. 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 opponent was dictating, and hitting a soft shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a pretty harsh limitation on his potential.

The American has achieved a number of significant, unexpected improvements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the top 30. 24 months after, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly exploded to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, competing against and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What could the commentator have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing slump of US male players winning grand slams when Fritz had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

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

Fritz’s performance in that very quarter-final should have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic won in four sets, a win that only felt tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a couple match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked well-balanced during the rallies, with the American earning numerous chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the brink of agony. When Fritz finally did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately produced a terrible game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle secondary to the main contest and forced him to expend excessive energy to win it. Facing set points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve floated to heaven. He prolonged the match two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, only a result of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly compelling evidence that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of the Serbian, who lost to the Spaniard in the following match and never especially appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired enough experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is those who were anticipating Fritz to prevail, and pressuring him to do so, when he was had not accomplished anything that indicated he could.

The American is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in media sessions, more so than almost everyone on the men's tour except for the Russian star, prepared to not just say how he feels or the strategy he felt determined a match, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for America not spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” Fritz told a journalist in the summer of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is actually highly unlikely for everybody else. {