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I have some thoughts regarding that remarks delivered by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz during the US Open last eight. Look – Fritz is American, Fowler is American – and athletic competitions often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment was appropriate. Rather, Fowler brought up the continued drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick 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 defeated the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, who Fritz has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been title holder the Italian, versus him Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the last seven grand slams (and Alcaraz proceeded to defeat a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). Fritz said in press after the loss that he in fact liked his path, because it presented the opportunity to beat the top three competitors in the sport in succession. Fritz is more than justified to aim for the accomplishment; an competitor is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final who else in their right mind had the drought of American champions on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the sole barrier standing in her way and consistent victories

Fritz, twenty-eight, is ranked fourth in the global rankings entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that at present, that’s as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. His top-class serve and powerful power on each front side and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to defeat the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. Against the handful of generational talents, though, he is frequently overmatched. The last several years has seen the interesting rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless move around with the alarming speed and fluidity of much shorter men. He is six-foot-five and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was controlling, and hitting a soft shot against him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a pretty harsh limitation on his potential.

The American has made a several dramatic, improbable advancements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the top 30. Two years after, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he suddenly surged up to fourth place – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and even a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What could 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 continuing slump of American men lifting major titles when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

Taylor Fritz achieved a personal best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in the summer.

The American's performance in that exact quarter-final should have been enough of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a win that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a couple match points and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz creating plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after break point, extending the run to the brink of frustration. When Fritz eventually did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a terrible service game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the real battle and forced him to expend far too much energy to prevail. Down match points in the final game, his primary delivery sailed to heaven. He extended the match twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, just a result of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly ironclad proof that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of Djokovic, that lost to Alcaraz in the following match and did not particularly seem like he believed he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has acquired enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is those who were expecting Fritz to prevail, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to accomplished anything that indicated he could.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in press conferences, more so than almost anyone on the ATP except for the Russian star, willing to not just say how he feels or the tactic he believed decided a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for America failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

American legend Division

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Group

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

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I don’t do it,” Fritz told an interviewer in the summer of claiming a grand slam. It is hoped he understands that he’s not a failure if he does not achieve that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is actually extremely unlikely for all other players. {