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I have a few opinions about the comments made by ESPN broadcaster Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz in the New York major quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents American, Fowler is American – and athletic competitions frequently encourage nationalism. Some letdown was appropriate. Instead, he invoked the continued absence of US male players at the majors: none of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the competition.

Everyone enjoy a narrative, myself included. But really. Suppose Fritz had beaten the legend for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, whom he has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the previous seven major titles (and Alcaraz went on to defeat a tired Djokovic in the next round). Fritz said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually liked his draw, because it offered the chance to beat the top three competitors in the world in succession. Fritz is well justified to aim for the achievement; an competitor is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match what other person in their right mind had the drought of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the only thing standing in her way and consistent victories

The American, 28, is ranked number four in the global rankings starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. Presumably he might claim that position for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that’s as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s elite delivery and concussive power on each forehand and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to defeat most rivals on the professional circuit. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is frequently helpless. The last several seasons has seen the curious rise of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless move around with the alarming quickness and fluidity of much shorter men. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely 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 severe limitation on his potential.

The American has achieved a number of dramatic, unexpected advancements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was approaching the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly surged to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a aging Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was Fowler have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the continuing drought of US male players winning grand slams when Fritz had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

Taylor Fritz made a career-best run to the All England Club semi-finals in July.

The American's play in that very last eight match ought to have been enough of an indication. The Serbian won in four rounds, a victory that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a few championship opportunities and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American earning plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the streak to the brink of agony. When he eventually did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a horrendous service game to drop serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle secondary to the real battle and compelled him to expend far too much effort to win it. Facing set points in the final game, his primary delivery sailed to heaven. He extended the contest two times on his second serve, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a collapse, I didn’t think, only a result of needing to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The match was fairly ironclad evidence that the American is not good enough to beat any version of Djokovic, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and never particularly seem like he thought he could win. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has developed sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The issue is those who were anticipating the American to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he could.

The American is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective voice in media sessions, exceeding virtually everyone on the men's tour aside from the Russian star, willing to not only express his emotions or the tactic he believed determined a match, but clarify it. That he should bear the brunt of the blame for America failing to spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Group

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

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I don’t do it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in June of winning a major. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not achieve that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is in fact extremely unlikely for all other players. {