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I possess some thoughts about that comments delivered by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz during the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents American, the commentator is American – and athletic competitions frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. Some letdown would have been appropriate. Rather, he brought up the ongoing drought of American men at the majors: not one of them has won a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all love a storyline, myself included. But really. Even if Fritz had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, who he has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, versus him the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven major titles (and the Spaniard proceeded to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the next round). He stated in post-match interviews after the loss that he in fact preferred his draw, because it offered the opportunity to beat the three best players in the world back-to-back. He is well justified to aim for the achievement; an competitor is supposed to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian last eight match what other person sensibly had the drought of US winners on the brain?

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

Fritz, 28, is placed fourth in the global rankings entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he might take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that’s as high as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s elite delivery and powerful power on each front side and reverse side are sufficiently enough to dispose of most opponents on the ATP tour. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is frequently overmatched. The last several seasons has witnessed the curious rise of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless move around with the alarming quickness and fluidity of smaller players. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the opponent was dictating, and hitting a soft shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a quite severe limitation on his potential.

The American has achieved a number of dramatic, improbable improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly exploded to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, competing against and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What could the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing slump of US male players winning major titles when Fritz had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the appreciation for the magnitude of the task insufficient.

Taylor Fritz made a personal best advancement to the All England Club last four in the summer.

The American's performance in that very quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian won in four sets, a win that only felt tenuous for moments towards the conclusion, when Fritz had survived a few match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American earning numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued break point after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the brink of agony. When Fritz finally did claim a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately played a terrible game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and forced him to expend far too much effort to win it. Facing match points in the final game, Fritz’s first serve floated to heaven. He extended the contest two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, just a result of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly compelling proof that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of the Serbian, that was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and did not particularly seem like he thought he could win. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to make up for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is the individuals who were expecting Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the tour regardless. He’s a calm, reflective presence in press conferences, exceeding virtually anyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just say how he feels or the strategy he felt decided a contest, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for America failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Division

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably think about it forever if I don’t do it,” Fritz informed a journalist in the summer of winning a major. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not achieve that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is in fact extremely improbable for all other players. {