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I have some thoughts about that comments delivered by ESPN broadcaster Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz during the New York major quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is from the US – and athletic competitions often lend themselves to nationalism. Some disappointment was appropriate. Instead, he invoked the ongoing drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one 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, me too. But come on. Even if the American had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the following match, whom he has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And had he someway survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven grand slams (and Alcaraz proceeded to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually preferred his draw, because it offered the opportunity to defeat the top three players in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is well within his right to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is supposed to have faith in themselves. But entering that Djokovic quarter-final who else sensibly had the lack of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the sole barrier between her and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is ranked fourth in the global rankings entering this week’s year-end championships and has won his previous six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that right now, that’s as far as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and powerful strength on both front side and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to dispose of most rivals on the ATP tour. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is often helpless. The last several years has seen the interesting emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless cover the court with the surprising speed and fluidity of smaller men. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was controlling, and playing a drop shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a pretty harsh limitation on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a several significant, unexpected improvements throughout his career. Early on of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded up to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and even a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What could the commentator have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the ongoing drought of American men lifting major titles when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

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

The American's play in that exact quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a win that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a few championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the rallies, with the American earning numerous chances to break. But Djokovic rescued break point after break point, extending the streak to the point of frustration. When he finally did claim one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a terrible game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and forced him to use far too much energy to win it. Facing set points in the final game, his first serve sailed to the sky. He prolonged the contest twice on his second serve, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, just a result of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was quite compelling proof that the American is not good enough to defeat any version of Djokovic, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and never especially appeared like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his athletic abilities now, but has developed sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is those who were anticipating Fritz to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he could.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit regardless. He’s a patient, reflective presence in media sessions, more so than virtually anyone on the men's tour aside from the Russian star, willing to not only express how he feels or the strategy he believed decided a match, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the blame for America failing to spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely think about it forever if I fail to do it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in the summer of claiming a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is actually highly improbable for all other players. {