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I have a few opinions about the comments delivered by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz during the New York major last eight. Look – Fritz is American, Fowler is from the US – and sports frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment was understandable. Rather, he brought up the ongoing absence of American men at the majors: not one of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

We all love a storyline, myself included. But really. Suppose Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the first time, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the following match, who he has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven major titles (and the Spaniard went on to defeat a tired Serbian in the subsequent match). He 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 players in the sport back-to-back. He is well within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But entering that Djokovic quarter-final what other person sensibly had the lack of US winners on the brain?

The American star's second serve the only thing between her and sustained success

The American, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the global rankings entering the upcoming year-end championships and has won his previous six encounters over No 3 the German with growing comfort. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that is as far as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and concussive strength on both forehand and backhand are more than enough to defeat most opponents on the ATP tour. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is frequently helpless. The last several years has witnessed the curious rise of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless move around with the alarming quickness and grace of much shorter men. Fritz 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 other player was dictating, and hitting a soft shot against him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a pretty harsh restriction on his upside.

Fritz has made a several significant, improbable advancements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the bottom of the top 30. 24 months after, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he suddenly surged to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender 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 US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the appreciation for the magnitude of the task too little.

The American star achieved a personal best advancement to the Wimbledon last four in July.

The American's play in that exact quarter-final ought to have been enough of an indication. Djokovic won in four rounds, a victory that only seemed tenuous for moments towards the very end, when the American had saved a couple match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz creating plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the streak to the brink of frustration. When Fritz finally did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a terrible service game to drop serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and forced him to use excessive effort to win it. Facing match points in the last game, his primary delivery sailed to the sky. He prolonged the match two times on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, only a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly compelling proof that the American is insufficiently skilled to beat any form of the Serbian, who lost to the Spaniard in the next round and never especially appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has acquired sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is those who were expecting Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that indicated he would.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit regardless. He’s a patient, reflective presence in press conferences, exceeding virtually anyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only express how he feels or the tactic he believed decided a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for America not spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Division

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

Swedish icon Group

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in June of winning a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is in fact highly improbable for everybody else. {