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I have some opinions about that comments delivered by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz in the US Open quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is American, the commentator is from the US – and sports frequently encourage nationalism. Some disappointment would have been understandable. Rather, he brought up the ongoing absence 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 storyline, myself included. But really. Even if Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the next round, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d someway survived that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, versus him Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the last seven grand slams (and Alcaraz went on to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the next round). Fritz stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually preferred his draw, because it offered the chance to beat the top three competitors in the sport in succession. He is more than within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed 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 only thing standing in her way and consistent victories

The American, twenty-eight, is placed fourth in the world entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six matches over No 3 the German with increasing ease. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that right now, that’s as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and concussive strength on each front side and backhand are more than adequate to defeat the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. Against the handful of generational talents, though, he is frequently overmatched. The past few years has witnessed the curious rise of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless cover the court with the alarming speed and fluidity of smaller men. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the other player was controlling, and hitting a soft shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite severe limitation on his upside.

Fritz has made a several significant, improbable advancements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly surged up to No 4 – and held the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and even a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What was the commentator have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing slump of American men lifting major titles when Fritz had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the task insufficient.

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

Fritz’s play in that very quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian won in four rounds, a victory that only felt tenuous for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a few match points and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American earning numerous chances to break. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after break point, extending the streak to the brink of frustration. When he finally did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a horrendous service game to lose his own serve again; the Serbian had lulled him into a battle peripheral to the real battle and compelled him to expend far too much effort to prevail. Down match points in the final game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to heaven. He prolonged the contest twice on his second serve, 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 ironclad evidence that the American is insufficiently skilled to beat any version of the Serbian, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and never particularly appeared like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has developed sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The problem is those who were anticipating the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in media sessions, more so than almost everyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only say how he feels or the strategy he believed decided a contest, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for America not produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” the American told a journalist in the summer of winning a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is actually extremely improbable for everybody else. {