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I possess some opinions regarding the comments made by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz during the US Open quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is American – and sports often lend themselves to nationalism. Some disappointment was appropriate. Rather, he brought up the ongoing drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the competition.

We all enjoy a narrative, myself included. But really. Even if the American had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, who Fritz has yet to beat in an official match. And had he somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard went on to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz said in press after the loss that he actually liked his draw, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the three best players in the world in succession. He is well justified to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final who else in their right mind had the lack of US winners in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier between her and consistent victories

The American, twenty-eight, is ranked fourth in the global rankings starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six encounters over third-ranked the German with increasing ease. Presumably he might claim that position for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that is as far as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class serve and powerful strength on each front side and reverse side are sufficiently enough to dispose of most opponents on the professional circuit. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is frequently helpless. The past few years has seen the curious rise of tall, gangly players who can nevertheless move around with the surprising speed and grace of smaller men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom win a rally that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a drop shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a pretty harsh limitation on his potential.

The American has achieved a several significant, unexpected improvements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. 24 months later, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly exploded to fourth place – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What was Fowler thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the ongoing slump of US male players winning grand slams when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

The American star made a career-best run to the All England Club last four in July.

The American's performance in that very quarter-final should have been sufficient 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 couple match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz earning plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the point of frustration. When he finally did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately produced a horrendous game to lose his own serve again; the Serbian had lulled him into a battle secondary to the real battle and compelled him to use excessive energy to win it. Down set points in the final game, his primary delivery sailed to the sky. He prolonged the contest two times on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, only a consequence of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was quite ironclad proof that the American is not good enough to defeat any form of the Serbian, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the next round and never particularly seem like he thought he could win. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his athletic abilities now, but has developed sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is those who were anticipating the American to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that indicated he would.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective presence in press conferences, exceeding almost everyone on the men's tour aside from the Russian star, willing to not only say his emotions or the strategy he believed determined a match, but explain it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Division

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely 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 fulfill that objective, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is in fact highly improbable for everybody else. {