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I have some thoughts regarding that comments made by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz in the US Open last eight. Look – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is from the US – and sports often encourage nationalism. A little bit of letdown would have been appropriate. Instead, he brought up the ongoing absence of US male players at the majors: not one of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all love a storyline, me too. But really. Even if Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, who he has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been title holder the Italian, versus him Fritz had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz went on to defeat a tired Djokovic in the next round). He said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually preferred his path, because it offered the chance to defeat the three best players in the sport back-to-back. He is well justified to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is meant to believe in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final who else sensibly had the lack of US winners in mind?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the sole barrier between her and consistent victories

The American, 28, is placed fourth in the global rankings starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that right now, that is as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and powerful strength on each forehand and reverse side are more than adequate to dispose of the majority of rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is often helpless. The last several seasons has seen the interesting rise of lanky, towering athletes who can nevertheless move around with the surprising quickness and fluidity of much shorter players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and playing a soft shot against him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a quite severe limitation on his upside.

Fritz has made a several significant, improbable improvements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the top 30. Two years after, he was approaching the top 10. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged to No 4 – and held the position. But the next leap, competing against and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a declining Djokovic, is the highest of all. What could Fowler 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 American men lifting grand slams when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply excessive and the appreciation for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

Taylor Fritz made a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

The American's play in that exact quarter-final should have been enough of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a win that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had survived a few championship opportunities and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz creating numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved break point after service break opportunity, extending the run to the point of agony. When Fritz finally did claim one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a terrible game to drop serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and forced him to expend far too much effort to win it. Facing match points in the last game, his first serve floated to the sky. He extended the contest two times on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, only a result of needing to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The match was fairly compelling proof that Fritz is not good enough to beat any version of the Serbian, who lost to Alcaraz in the following match and did not especially appeared like he believed he could win. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has developed sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is those who were expecting Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not accomplished anything that indicated he could.

The American is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in media sessions, exceeding almost anyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only say his emotions or the strategy he felt decided a match, but explain it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for America failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Division

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely think about it forever if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz told an interviewer in the summer of claiming a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying empire is actually highly improbable for everybody else. {