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I possess some thoughts regarding the comments delivered by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler after 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 American – and sports frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment was understandable. Rather, he invoked the continued absence of American men at grand slam tournaments: none of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone love a narrative, me too. But come on. Even if Fritz defeated Djokovic for the first time, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the following match, whom he has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And had he somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven major titles (and Alcaraz proceeded to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the next round). He said in post-match interviews after the loss that he in fact liked his path, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the top three players in the sport in succession. Fritz is well justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the drought of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is ranked fourth in the world starting the upcoming year-end championships and has secured his previous six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he might take that spot for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as high as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. His elite delivery and concussive power on both front side and reverse side are sufficiently enough to defeat the majority of rivals on the ATP tour. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is frequently helpless. The last several years has witnessed the curious emergence of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless move around with the surprising speed and grace of smaller men. He is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His footwork is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a drop shot against him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a pretty harsh restriction on his upside.

The American has achieved a number of dramatic, unexpected improvements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly exploded to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and even a aging Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What could the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing drought of US male players winning grand slams when Fritz had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

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

Fritz’s play in that very quarter-final should have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had saved a few championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair looked evenly matched during the rallies, with the American creating plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the run to the brink of agony. When he finally did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a horrendous service game to drop serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and compelled him to use excessive energy to prevail. Facing match points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve floated to the sky. He prolonged the match twice on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, only a consequence of having to hit too many second serves.

The match was quite compelling proof that Fritz is not good enough to beat any version of the Serbian, who lost to the Spaniard in the following match and did not especially seem like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has developed enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is those who were anticipating the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not done anything that indicated he would.

The American is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a patient, reflective voice in press conferences, more so than virtually everyone on the men's tour except for the Russian star, prepared to not only express how he feels or the tactic he believed decided a match, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for America not produce 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 burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

American legend Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I don’t accomplish it,” the American informed an interviewer in June of claiming a grand slam. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not a failure if he does not fulfill that goal, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is in fact highly unlikely for all other players. {