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I possess a few opinions about that comments made by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz in the New York major quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents American, the commentator is from the US – and sports often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown would have been understandable. Rather, he brought up the continued absence of American men at the majors: not one of them has won a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone love a storyline, myself included. But really. Suppose the American defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the following match, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven grand slams (and Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the next round). Fritz said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact preferred his draw, because it presented the opportunity to beat the top three players in the sport in succession. Fritz is more than within his right to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final who else sensibly had the drought of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the sole barrier between her and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed fourth in the world entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six matches over No 3 the German with increasing ease. It's likely he might take that spot for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that at present, that’s as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard sit a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class serve and concussive power on each front side and reverse side are sufficiently enough to dispose of the majority of rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The past few years has witnessed the interesting rise of tall, gangly players who can nevertheless move around with the surprising quickness and grace of much shorter men. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the opponent was controlling, and playing a drop shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty severe restriction on his potential.

The American has achieved a several dramatic, unexpected advancements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. Two years after, he was approaching the top 10. The previous season, he suddenly exploded up to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the next leap, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a aging Serbian, is the toughest of all. What could the commentator have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing drought of US male players lifting major titles when Fritz had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply too much and the respect for the magnitude of the task insufficient.

Taylor Fritz achieved a personal best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

The American's play in that exact last eight match should have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic won in four sets, a victory that only felt uncertain for moments towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a few match points and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American creating plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued break point after service break opportunity, extending the streak to the point of frustration. When Fritz eventually did claim a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a terrible game to drop serve again; the Serbian had lulled him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and compelled him to expend far too much effort to prevail. Facing match points in the last game, his primary delivery sailed to heaven. He extended the contest twice on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, only a consequence of needing to hit too many second serves.

The contest was fairly compelling evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any version of the Serbian, that lost to Alcaraz in the following match and never especially seem like he thought he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – Djokovic is the best player ever, and might not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to make up for a significant portion of the decline. The problem is those who were anticipating the American to win, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he would.

The American is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective presence in media sessions, exceeding almost anyone on the men's tour except for the Russian star, willing to not just express how he feels or the strategy he believed decided a contest, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for America not spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Group

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Division

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz told an interviewer in the summer of claiming a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is in fact extremely improbable for everybody else. {