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I have some opinions about that remarks delivered by ESPN broadcaster Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz during the New York major last eight. Look – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is from the US – and sports often encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown would have been understandable. Rather, Fowler invoked the continued drought of American men at the majors: none of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

We all enjoy a storyline, myself included. But come on. Even if Fritz defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the following match, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d someway survived that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the last seven grand slams (and Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the next round). He said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually liked his draw, because it presented the chance to defeat the top three players in the sport in succession. Fritz is more than justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final who else in their right mind had the drought of US winners in mind?

The American star's weaker delivery the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is ranked fourth in the global rankings starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his previous six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite serve and concussive strength on both forehand and backhand are sufficiently enough to defeat most opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the select few generational talents, though, he is frequently helpless. The past few years has witnessed the interesting emergence of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless cover the court with the surprising speed and grace of smaller men. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the other player was dictating, and hitting a soft shot against him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a quite harsh limitation on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a several dramatic, improbable advancements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the bottom of the top 30. 24 months later, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly surged up to No 4 – and held the spot. But the next leap, competing against and beating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a aging Djokovic, is the highest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the continuing slump of US male players winning grand slams when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply too much and the respect for the difficulty of the task too little.

The American star achieved a personal best advancement to the All England Club last four in July.

The American's performance in that very quarter-final should have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian won in four sets, a victory that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a couple match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American earning numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved service break opportunity after break point, extending the run to the brink of agony. When Fritz finally did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a horrendous game to lose his own serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and forced him to use excessive effort to prevail. Down set points in the final game, his primary delivery sailed to heaven. He extended the match two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, just a consequence of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly compelling proof that the American is not good enough to beat any form of Djokovic, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the next round and did not especially seem like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is those who were anticipating Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in media sessions, exceeding virtually everyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just say his emotions or the tactic he felt decided a match, but clarify it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unjust. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

American legend Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely think about it forever if I fail to accomplish it,” the American informed a journalist in June of claiming a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is in fact highly improbable for everybody else. {