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I have a few opinions about the comments made by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz during the US Open last eight. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is American – and sports frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown would have been appropriate. Rather, he invoked the ongoing absence of American men at grand slam tournaments: none of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone enjoy a storyline, myself included. But come on. Even if the American defeated the legend for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, whom he has never defeated in an official match. And had he somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, versus him Fritz had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the previous seven major titles (and the Spaniard went on to defeat a tired Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact preferred his path, because it offered the chance to beat the top three competitors in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is more than within his right to aim for the achievement; an competitor is meant to have faith in themselves. But entering that Djokovic last eight match what other person in their right mind had the lack of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the world starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his previous six matches over No 3 the German with increasing ease. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that is as high as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class serve and powerful power on both front side and reverse side are more than adequate to dispose of the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. Against the handful of generational talents, though, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The last several years has witnessed the curious rise of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless cover the court with the alarming speed and grace of much shorter players. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His movement is rigid, 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 typically a safe bet. That serves as a pretty severe limitation on his potential.

The American has made a number of dramatic, improbable improvements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was sniffing the top 10. The previous season, he suddenly surged to No 4 – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and even a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the ongoing slump of US male players winning major titles when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

Taylor Fritz made a personal best advancement to the All England Club last four in the summer.

The American's play in that very quarter-final should have been enough of an indication. Djokovic won in four rounds, a win that only felt uncertain for moments towards the conclusion, when Fritz had survived a few championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American earning plenty of chances to break. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the point of agony. When he finally did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a horrendous service game to drop serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and forced him to expend far too much energy to prevail. Down set points in the last game, his first serve sailed to heaven. He prolonged the match twice on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It was not a collapse, I didn’t think, just a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The match was quite compelling evidence that the American is not good enough to defeat any form of Djokovic, that was defeated by the Spaniard in the following match and did not particularly seem like he believed he could triumph. This is perfectly fine – the Serbian is the best player ever, and may not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has developed sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were expecting Fritz to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that indicated he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, reflective presence in press conferences, more so than almost everyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just express his emotions or the strategy he believed decided a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• 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 think about it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” the American told an interviewer in June of claiming a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not fulfill that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying empire is in fact highly improbable for all other players. {