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I have a few thoughts regarding the comments delivered by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz in the New York major last eight. Look – Fritz is American, the commentator is American – and athletic competitions often encourage patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment would have been understandable. Rather, he brought up the continued drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

We all enjoy a narrative, myself included. But really. Even if Fritz had beaten the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, who he has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven grand slams (and the Spaniard went on to defeat a tired Djokovic in the next round). Fritz said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually preferred his draw, because it presented the chance to defeat the three best competitors in the world in succession. Fritz is well within his right to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final who else sensibly had the drought of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is ranked number four in the world starting this week’s year-end championships and has secured his last six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that at present, that is as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of performance metrics away. His top-class delivery and concussive power on each front side and reverse side are sufficiently enough to dispose of most rivals on the ATP tour. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is frequently helpless. The last several years has witnessed the curious emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless move around with the alarming quickness and grace of much shorter players. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he seldom win a rally that the opponent was dictating, and playing a soft shot against him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a quite severe restriction on his potential.

The American has achieved a number of significant, unexpected improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded up to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and beating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a aging Serbian, is the toughest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the ongoing drought 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 magnitude of the challenge insufficient.

The American star made a personal best run to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

Fritz’s performance in that exact quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a win that only felt tenuous for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had survived a few match points and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The pair looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American creating plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the run to the point of frustration. When Fritz finally did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a horrendous game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and forced him to expend excessive effort to win it. Facing match points in the final game, his primary delivery sailed to the sky. He prolonged the match twice on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, only a consequence of needing to hit too many second serves.

The contest was quite compelling proof that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of Djokovic, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and never especially seem like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his physical powers anymore, but has developed sufficient experience and tactical know-how to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The issue is the individuals who were expecting the American to win, and pressuring him to do so, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in press conferences, exceeding almost everyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just say how he feels or the tactic he felt decided a match, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for America failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unjust. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that load.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

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

Swedish icon Division

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

“I’d probably dwell on it forever if I fail to do it,” Fritz told an interviewer in the summer of claiming a grand slam. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is in fact highly unlikely for everybody else. {