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I possess a few opinions regarding that remarks delivered by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz in the New York major quarter-finals. Consider – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is American – and sports frequently lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of disappointment was understandable. Instead, he brought up the ongoing absence of American men at grand slam tournaments: none of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the competition.

Everyone enjoy a narrative, me too. But really. Even if Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the next round, who Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him the American had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven major titles (plus Alcaraz went on to thrash a tired Djokovic in the next round). He said in press after the loss that he actually preferred his path, because it presented the opportunity to beat the top three competitors in the world back-to-back. He is well justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an competitor is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the lack of American champions on the brain?

The American star's second serve the only thing between her and sustained success

The American, twenty-eight, is placed fourth in the global rankings entering this week’s year-end championships and has secured his last six matches over third-ranked the German with growing comfort. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that’s as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. His elite serve and concussive power on each forehand and backhand are sufficiently adequate to dispose of most opponents on the ATP tour. Against the select few generational talents, though, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The last several seasons has witnessed the interesting emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nevertheless cover the court with the surprising speed and fluidity of much shorter men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the other player was controlling, and playing a drop shot against him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a quite harsh limitation on his upside.

The American has achieved a number of dramatic, unexpected advancements over the years. Early on of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a aging Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What could the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the continuing drought of US male players winning grand slams when Fritz had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge insufficient.

The American star achieved a personal best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in the summer.

Fritz’s performance in that exact last eight match should have been enough of an sign. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a win that only felt tenuous for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a few match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the rallies, with the American creating plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued break point after break point, prolonging the run to the point of frustration. When Fritz eventually did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a terrible service game to drop serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and forced him to use far too much effort to win it. Facing set points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve floated to the sky. He extended the contest two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, just a result of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly compelling evidence that Fritz is not good enough to beat any version of Djokovic, that lost to Alcaraz in the next round and never especially seem 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 developed sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is those who were expecting the American to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to accomplished anything that indicated he would.

Fritz is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in media sessions, exceeding almost anyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just say how he feels or the tactic he felt decided a match, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for America not spawn a male major champion since the last American titlist seems unjust. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Division

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I don’t do it,” Fritz told an interviewer in June of claiming a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he does not fulfill that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is actually highly unlikely for all other players. {