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I possess a few opinions about the comments made by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz during the New York major last eight. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is American – and athletic competitions frequently lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of letdown was appropriate. Instead, Fowler brought up the ongoing drought of American men at the majors: not one of them had lifted a title since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the competition.

We all enjoy a storyline, myself included. But come on. Even if Fritz had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the next round, who he has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d someway survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz went on to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the next round). He said in press after the loss that he in fact preferred his path, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the top three competitors in the sport back-to-back. He is well within his right to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is meant to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final what other person sensibly had the lack of US winners in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier between her and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is ranked number four in the world entering this week’s year-end championships and has won his last six encounters over No 3 the German with growing comfort. It's likely he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that is as far as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and concussive strength on each front side and backhand are more than adequate to dispose of the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of generational talents, however, he is frequently overmatched. The last several years has seen the curious rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless cover the court with the surprising speed and fluidity of smaller men. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was dictating, and hitting a soft shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite severe restriction on his upside.

The American has achieved a number of significant, unexpected improvements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a declining Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What could the commentator have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing slump of American men lifting grand slams when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the task insufficient.

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

Fritz’s performance in that very last eight match should have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian won in four sets, a victory that only felt uncertain for moments towards the very end, when Fritz had survived a couple match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz earning numerous opportunities to break. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the run to the point of frustration. When Fritz finally did claim a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a terrible game to drop serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and forced him to use far too much effort to prevail. Facing match points in the last game, his primary delivery floated to heaven. He prolonged the match twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a collapse, I didn’t think, only a consequence of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly ironclad proof that the American is not good enough to beat any form of Djokovic, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and did not especially seem like he thought he could triumph. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has developed sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not done anything that suggested he would.

The American is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in press conferences, more so than almost anyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only express how he feels or the strategy he felt determined a contest, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America not spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

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

Swedish icon Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably dwell on it forever if I don’t do it,” the American told a journalist in the summer of claiming a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not fulfill that objective, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is actually extremely improbable for everybody else. {