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I have some thoughts regarding that comments made by ESPN broadcaster Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz during the New York major quarter-finals. Consider – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment would have been understandable. Rather, he brought up the continued drought of American men at the majors: none of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the competition.

Everyone love a storyline, myself included. But come on. Even if Fritz had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was waiting in the following match, who Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder the Italian, versus him the American had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the last seven major titles (plus the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz said in press after the loss that he actually liked his draw, because it offered the chance to beat the three best competitors in the world in succession. He is well within his right to aim for the achievement; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match what other person sensibly had the drought of American champions on the brain?

The American star's second serve the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is placed fourth in the world entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that at present, that is as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class serve and concussive strength on each forehand and backhand are sufficiently enough to defeat the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of generational talents, however, Fritz is frequently helpless. The past few seasons has seen the interesting rise of lanky, towering athletes who can nevertheless cover the court with the alarming speed and grace of smaller players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and playing a soft shot against him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a pretty severe restriction on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a several dramatic, improbable advancements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the top 30. 24 months later, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly surged up to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating 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 Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the continuing drought of US male players lifting grand slams when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply excessive and the appreciation for the magnitude of the task insufficient.

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

The American's play in that very quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic triumphed in four rounds, a win that only felt tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz creating plenty of 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 he finally did claim a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately played a horrendous service game to drop serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and forced him to use far too much energy to prevail. Facing set points in the final game, his primary delivery floated to the sky. He prolonged the contest twice on his second serve, but ultimately double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, only a consequence of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The match was quite compelling proof that the American is insufficiently skilled to beat any form of the Serbian, that lost to Alcaraz in the following match and did not especially seem like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has developed sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is those who were expecting the American to win, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he could.

The American is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in media sessions, more so than almost anyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just say how he feels or the tactic he felt decided a contest, but clarify it. That he should bear the brunt of the blame for the United States not spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Since the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can share that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Group

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I don’t accomplish it,” the American informed a journalist in the summer of claiming a major. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is actually highly unlikely for all other players. {