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I possess a few thoughts regarding the remarks made by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz in the New York major last eight. Look – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is from the US – and athletic competitions often encourage nationalism. Some disappointment was appropriate. Rather, he invoked the ongoing absence of American men at the majors: 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 narrative, myself included. But come on. Suppose the American had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was looming in the next round, whom he has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d someway gotten past 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 last seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz went on to defeat a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). He stated in press following his defeat that he in fact preferred his draw, because it offered the chance to defeat the top three competitors in the world back-to-back. He is well within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an competitor is supposed to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian last eight match what other person in their right mind had the lack of US winners on the brain?

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

Fritz, 28, is ranked number four in the world entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he might take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that right now, that is as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of performance metrics away. His top-class serve and powerful power on both forehand and reverse side are more than enough to dispose of most rivals on the ATP tour. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is frequently overmatched. The past few seasons has witnessed the interesting emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and fluidity of smaller players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and playing a soft shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite severe limitation on his upside.

Fritz has made a several significant, unexpected improvements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly exploded up to No 4 – and held the position. But the next leap, competing against and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a aging Djokovic, is the highest of all. What could Fowler 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 American men winning grand slams when Fritz had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

The American star achieved a personal best run to the All England Club semi-finals in the summer.

Fritz’s performance in that exact quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian won in four rounds, a victory that only felt tenuous for moments towards the very end, when the American had saved a few championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz earning numerous chances to break. But the champion saved break point after break point, extending the run to the brink of agony. When he finally did claim a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a terrible game to drop serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and compelled him to use far too much effort to win it. Facing match points in the last game, his first serve sailed to the sky. He prolonged the contest twice on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, only a result of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly ironclad evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any version of the Serbian, that was defeated by the Spaniard in the following match and never particularly seem like he thought he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – the Serbian is the best player ever, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired enough knowledge and strategic intelligence 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 achieve that, when he was had not done anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in media sessions, more so than virtually everyone on the men's tour except for the Russian star, prepared to not only say how he feels or the tactic he felt determined a match, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States not produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can share that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Group

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably dwell on it forever if I don’t do it,” the American informed an interviewer in June of winning a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is in fact extremely unlikely for everybody else. {