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I possess some opinions about the comments made by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's victory over the American player during the New York major last eight. Look – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is from the US – and sports often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment would have been understandable. Instead, he brought up the ongoing absence of US male players 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 competition.

Everyone love a storyline, myself included. But come on. Suppose Fritz had beaten the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the following match, who Fritz has yet to beat in an official match. And had he somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the previous seven grand slams (and the Spaniard went on to thrash a tired Djokovic in the next round). He said in press following his defeat that he in fact liked his path, because it presented the opportunity to beat the three best players in the sport back-to-back. He is well within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final what other person sensibly had the drought of US winners in mind?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing between her and consistent victories

Fritz, 28, is ranked number four in the global rankings entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. Presumably he might claim that position for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that is as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite delivery and powerful power on both forehand and reverse side are more than enough to defeat most opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of generational talents, however, Fritz is often overmatched. The past few years has witnessed the curious emergence of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless move around with the surprising quickness and fluidity of much shorter men. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a soft shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a quite harsh restriction on his potential.

The American has achieved a number of significant, unexpected improvements over the years. Early on of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged to No 4 – and held the position. But the next leap, competing against and defeating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a aging Djokovic, is the highest of all. What was Fowler thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing slump of US male players winning grand slams when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

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

Fritz’s play in that very last eight match should have been enough of an sign. The Serbian won in four rounds, a victory that only seemed tenuous for moments towards the very end, when the American had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American earning plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved service break opportunity after break point, extending the run to the brink of frustration. When he finally did claim a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a horrendous service game to drop serve again; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish 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 prolonged the match two times on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, just a result of needing to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was fairly compelling proof that Fritz is not good enough to defeat any version of Djokovic, who lost to the Spaniard in the next round and did not especially appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak 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 anticipating the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he would.

The American is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective presence in press conferences, exceeding almost anyone on the men's tour except for the Russian star, prepared to not only say how he feels or the tactic he felt decided a match, 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 seems unfair. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Group

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

Swedish icon Group

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

“I’d probably dwell on it forever if I don’t accomplish it,” Fritz told a journalist in the summer of claiming a major. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not a failure if he does not fulfill that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is actually extremely unlikely for all other players. {