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I have a few opinions about that comments made by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer 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 from the US – and sports frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some letdown was understandable. Rather, he invoked the continued drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: none of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

Everyone enjoy a storyline, myself included. But come on. Suppose the American defeated the legend for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also divided the last seven major titles (and the Spaniard went on to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). Fritz said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually preferred his draw, because it presented the chance to defeat the top three competitors in the world back-to-back. He is well within his right to aim for the achievement; an competitor is supposed to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final who else in their right mind had the lack of American champions in mind?

The American star's weaker delivery the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

The American, twenty-eight, is placed fourth in the world starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that right now, that’s as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class serve and concussive power on each forehand and backhand are sufficiently adequate to defeat the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The past few seasons has seen the curious rise of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and grace of much shorter players. He is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His footwork is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was controlling, and playing a soft shot against him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a pretty harsh limitation on his upside.

Fritz has made a several significant, improbable 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 sniffing the top 10. The previous season, he suddenly surged up to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What was Fowler thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing slump of American men lifting grand slams when he had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the respect for the magnitude of the task insufficient.

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

Fritz’s play in that very quarter-final should have been sufficient of an indication. The Serbian triumphed in four sets, a win that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had saved a couple match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz creating numerous opportunities to break. But the champion saved service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the streak to the brink of agony. When Fritz eventually did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately played a horrendous service game to drop serve again; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and compelled him to use excessive energy to prevail. Facing set points in the final game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to heaven. He extended the contest two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, just a consequence of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly compelling proof that the American is not good enough to beat any version of Djokovic, that was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and did not especially seem like he thought he could win. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to make up for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not done anything that indicated he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in press conferences, exceeding virtually anyone on the ATP aside from the Russian star, prepared to not just express how he feels or the tactic he believed decided a match, but explain it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for the United States failing to spawn a male major champion since the last American titlist feels unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

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

Swedish icon Division

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

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz told a journalist in the summer of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is in fact highly unlikely for everybody else. {