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I possess a few opinions about that remarks made by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz during the New York major quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is American, the commentator is American – and athletic competitions often encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown would have been appropriate. Instead, he invoked the continued drought of American men at the majors: not one of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the competition.

Everyone love a storyline, me too. But come on. Suppose the American had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the next round, whom he has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven major titles (and Alcaraz proceeded to defeat a fatigued Djokovic in the next round). He said in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually preferred his path, because it offered the chance to defeat the top three players in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is well justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic last eight match what other person sensibly had the lack of American champions on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the sole barrier between her and sustained success

The American, 28, is placed fourth in the world starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six encounters over third-ranked the German with increasing ease. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that’s as far as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a vast gap of ranking points away. His elite serve and powerful strength on each forehand and backhand are more than enough to defeat the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is frequently helpless. The past few seasons has seen the interesting emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless cover the court with the alarming quickness and grace of much shorter players. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was controlling, and playing a drop shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a pretty severe restriction on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a number of dramatic, improbable advancements throughout his career. Early on of the ten-year period, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly surged to No 4 – and held the position. But the next leap, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and even a declining Djokovic, is the highest of all. What could the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the ongoing slump of American men 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 too little.

The American star achieved a career-best run to the Wimbledon last four in July.

The American's play in that very quarter-final should have been enough of an indication. The Serbian triumphed in four sets, 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 hold for 5-5. The duo looked well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz creating plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved break point after service break opportunity, extending the streak to the brink of frustration. When he finally did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a terrible game to drop serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle secondary to the real battle and compelled him to expend far too much energy to prevail. Down match points in the last game, his primary delivery sailed to heaven. He prolonged the contest two times on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, only a result of needing to hit too many second serves.

The match was quite compelling evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of Djokovic, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the following match and did not especially seem like he thought he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – the Serbian is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities anymore, but has developed enough knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is the individuals who were expecting the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in media sessions, more so than almost everyone on the men's tour except for the Russian star, willing to not only say how he feels or the strategy he believed determined a contest, but clarify it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

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

Bjorn Borg Division

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” the American told an interviewer in June of winning a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable empire is actually extremely improbable for everybody else. {