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I possess some thoughts regarding that comments delivered by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer after the Serbian champion's victory over the American player in the New York major quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is American – and athletic competitions often lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of disappointment was appropriate. Instead, Fowler invoked the continued absence of American men at the majors: not one of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the competition.

We all love a storyline, myself included. But come on. Suppose Fritz defeated the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, who he has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven grand slams (and the Spaniard went on to defeat a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). He said in press following his defeat that he actually liked his draw, because it offered the opportunity to defeat the three best competitors in the sport in succession. He is well within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But entering that Djokovic last eight match who else sensibly had the lack of American champions in mind?

The American star's weaker delivery the sole barrier between her and consistent victories

The American, 28, is ranked fourth in the global rankings entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that’s as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s elite serve and powerful strength on each front side and backhand are more than enough to dispose of most opponents on the professional circuit. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is often helpless. The past few seasons has seen the curious emergence of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless move around with the alarming speed and fluidity of smaller players. He is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His footwork is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the other player was controlling, and hitting a drop shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty severe limitation on his potential.

Fritz has made a number of significant, improbable advancements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the top 30. Two years after, he was sniffing the top 10. The previous season, he unexpectedly exploded up to No 4 – and held the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a declining Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was Fowler have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the continuing slump of American men lifting major titles when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge insufficient.

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

The American's performance in that exact last eight match should have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian won in four sets, a win that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had survived a couple match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz earning plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the streak to the point of agony. When Fritz eventually did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately played a terrible game to drop serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and forced him to expend excessive effort to win it. Facing set points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery sailed to the sky. He prolonged the contest twice on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, only a result of needing to hit too many second serves.

The match was quite compelling evidence that Fritz is not good enough to defeat any version of the Serbian, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and did not especially seem like he believed he could triumph. This is perfectly fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has developed sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is those who were expecting the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he would.

The American is an asset to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, reflective presence in media sessions, more so than almost anyone on the men's tour aside from the Russian star, willing 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 responsibility for America not spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Division

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I don’t do it,” the American informed an interviewer in June of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable empire is in fact extremely unlikely for everybody else. {