I just watched Sebastian Korda play an absolutely sublime tennis match in Delray Beach against No. 2 seed Casper Ruud. He did all of the things he’s capable of but hasn’t been able to execute on in a couple of years. And it got me thinking about the state of American men’s tennis.
I don’t want to speak too soon, but it feels like it might be on the cusp of a resurgence. Twenty-three years ago, the U.S. had its last Slam winner – Andy Roddick at the 2003 U.S. Open. And in the decades since, it has been a parade of European champions with an additional two South American representatives in the form of Gaston Gaudio (2004 French Open) and Juan Martin del Potro (2009 U.S. Open).
To call it an American drought would be understating the case. The country who gave us John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi went silent. To be fair to the John Isner and Sam Querrey generation, they were up against the Fedalovic (Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic) juggernaut at the height of their respective careers. The fact that Stan Wawrinka and Andy Murray managed to win three a piece during that time is an extraordinary accomplishment. So I’m not taking a swipe at Isner or Stevie Johnson or any of that crew.
But the fact remains that American fans pretty much abandoned patriotic cheering and adopted those citizens of the world, Federer and Nadal. I will admit that I started to wonder if U.S. men’s tennis would ever make its way back from relative obscurity. And…I think the answer is a tentative yes. Ben Shelton, Learner Tien, Alex Michelsen along with Tommy Paul, Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz are making a statement.
Three of the four semifinalists in Delray are Americans – Sebastian Korda, Learner Tien, and either Tommy Paul or Taylor Fritz. And they didn’t get there accidentally. There have been no retirements and the quality this week has been superb. Simply put, the American contingent has been impressive.
So how far away from a Slam title? It’s hard to say, but it feels imminent for the first time in a decade and a half. Fritz got himself to a Slam final in 2024, If you held my feet to the fire and made me predict which player is the most likely to do so, I’d say Shelton, owing to how successful he has proven to be in the best-of-five format. But if it ends up being Tien or Fritz himself, I probably wouldn’t be shocked.