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I possess some thoughts about the comments made by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz during the New York major last eight. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is from the US – and sports often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment was understandable. Instead, he brought up the continued absence of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all enjoy a storyline, me too. But really. Suppose the American had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, who Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he somehow gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also divided the last seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz proceeded to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz said in post-match interviews after the loss that he in fact preferred his draw, because it offered the chance to defeat the top three competitors in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is well justified to aim for the achievement; an competitor is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match who else sensibly had the drought of US winners in mind?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the sole barrier standing in her way and consistent victories

Fritz, 28, is placed fourth in the world starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six encounters over No 3 the German with growing comfort. Presumably he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite delivery and concussive strength on both forehand and reverse side are more than adequate to defeat the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of generational talents, however, he is often helpless. The past few seasons has seen the interesting emergence of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless move around with the surprising quickness and fluidity of smaller men. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His footwork is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom win a rally that the opponent was dictating, and hitting a drop shot against him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a pretty harsh limitation on his potential.

The American has achieved a several significant, unexpected advancements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a declining Djokovic, is the highest of all. What could Fowler have been 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 drought of US male players winning grand slams when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the appreciation for the magnitude of the task too little.

The American star achieved a personal best advancement to the All England Club last four in the summer.

The American's play in that very last eight match should have been sufficient of an indication. The Serbian won in four sets, a victory that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the very end, when the American had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American earning plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved break point after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the point of frustration. When Fritz eventually did claim a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a horrendous service game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and compelled him to expend excessive effort to prevail. Facing set points in the final game, his primary delivery floated to heaven. He prolonged the contest two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a choke, in my opinion, just a result of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly ironclad evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of Djokovic, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the next round and never particularly seem like he thought 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 now, but has developed enough experience and tactical know-how to make up for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were expecting Fritz to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour regardless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in press conferences, more so than almost everyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only say how he feels or the strategy he felt determined a match, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unjust. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, maybe they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Group

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

“I’d probably think about it forever if I fail to do it,” Fritz told an interviewer in June of winning a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is actually highly improbable for everybody else. {