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I have a few opinions regarding that remarks delivered by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz in the New York major last eight. Consider – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is from the US – and sports often encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment was understandable. Instead, he invoked the continued absence of US male players at the majors: none of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all enjoy a narrative, myself included. But come on. Suppose Fritz defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, whom Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him Fritz had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also divided the last seven major titles (and the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a tired Serbian in the next round). Fritz stated in press after the loss that he in fact liked his path, because it presented the chance to beat the three best players in the world back-to-back. He is more than justified to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the lack of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier between her and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is ranked fourth in the world starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that is as far as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a chasm of performance metrics away. His elite serve and concussive strength on each front side and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to defeat the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. Against the select few generational talents, however, Fritz is often overmatched. The past few seasons has witnessed the interesting emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless move around with the alarming quickness and fluidity of smaller players. He is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the other player was dictating, and playing a drop shot versus him is usually a reliable tactic. That acts as a pretty severe restriction on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a several dramatic, unexpected advancements throughout his career. Early on of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the lower end of the top 30. 24 months after, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he suddenly surged to fourth place – and held the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a aging Djokovic, is the highest of all. What was the commentator 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 winning grand slams when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

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

The American's play in that very quarter-final ought to have been enough of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a victory that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the very end, when the American had survived a few match points and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American creating numerous opportunities to break. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the streak to the point of frustration. When he finally did claim a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a horrendous service game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and compelled him to expend far too much effort to win it. Down set points in the last game, his first serve sailed to the sky. He extended the contest twice on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, just a consequence of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly ironclad evidence that the American is not good enough to beat any version of the Serbian, who lost to Alcaraz in the following match and never particularly seem like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the best player ever, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The problem is those who were expecting the American to win, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that indicated he would.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a patient, reflective presence in media sessions, more so than virtually everyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just say his emotions or the strategy he felt determined a contest, but clarify it. That he should bear the brunt of the blame for the United States failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” Fritz told an interviewer in the summer of winning a major. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is actually highly unlikely for all other players. {