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I possess a few opinions about that remarks delivered by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's win over the American player in the New York major quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents American, Fowler is from the US – and athletic competitions often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown would have been appropriate. Instead, Fowler brought up the continued absence of American men at the majors: not one of them had lifted a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

We all love a storyline, myself included. But really. Even if the American defeated the legend for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, who Fritz has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven major titles (plus Alcaraz went on to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the next round). He said in post-match interviews after the loss that he in fact preferred his path, because it offered the chance to beat the three best competitors in the sport in succession. Fritz is more than within his right to aim for the achievement; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But entering that Djokovic quarter-final who else sensibly had the lack of US winners in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the only thing standing in her way and consistent victories

Fritz, 28, is placed fourth in the world entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six matches over third-ranked the German with increasing ease. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that is as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. His elite delivery and powerful power on each forehand and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to defeat the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is frequently helpless. The last several seasons has witnessed the curious emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless move around with the surprising quickness and fluidity of much shorter players. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was controlling, and playing a drop shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty severe limitation on his upside.

The American has achieved a several significant, unexpected improvements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was approaching the top 10. The previous season, he suddenly surged to No 4 – and held the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What was 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 ongoing drought of American men winning major titles when Fritz had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

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

The American's performance in that very last eight match ought to have been sufficient of an indication. The Serbian won in four rounds, a victory that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the conclusion, when the American had survived a few match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz earning numerous chances to break. But the champion rescued break point after break point, prolonging the streak to the point of agony. When he finally did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a horrendous service game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and forced him to use excessive effort to prevail. Down set points in the last game, his first serve sailed to heaven. He extended the match twice on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, only a result of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was fairly compelling proof that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of Djokovic, who lost to the Spaniard in the next round and did not especially appeared like he thought he could win. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, but has developed enough knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The problem is those who were anticipating the American to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that indicated he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in press conferences, exceeding almost everyone on the men's tour except for the Russian star, prepared to not only say his emotions or the tactic he felt determined a match, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America not spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Group

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

“I would likely dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in June of winning a grand slam. It is hoped he understands that he’s not a failure if he does not fulfill that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is in fact extremely unlikely for everybody else. {