Four US men in fourth round of US Open for first time in 11 years

Four US men in fourth round of US Open for first time in 11 years

Web Desk
September 3, 2023

Four US men in fourth round of US Open for first time in 11 years

Four American men have advanced to the fourth round of the US Open.
Taylor Fritz is the highest-seeded American in the draw.
Frances Tiafoe became the first Black American man.

The last time an American male won the US Open and hoisted the trophy in front of the home crowd had been 20 years.

That was Andy Roddick in 2003, but with four American male players competing in the fourth round—the most to advance to this level of the event in more than a decade—there is new hope for such a record to be repeated.

On Sunday, Frances Tiafoe, Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, and Ben Shelton will all be competing. Tiafoe will compete against Australia’s Rinky Hijikata, while Fritz will compete against Switzerland’s Dominic Stricker.

“We’ve all been hearing about who’s going to be the next American (after) Andy Roddick 20 years ago our entire careers. We all want it so bad,” Fritz said.

Fritz is the highest-seeded American in the draw at No. 9, but he already believes that one of his countrymen will make it to the semifinals.

“I was like, wow, one of these guys on their side, is for sure making it to the semi-finals,” he said, according to the sports media. “Not to put pressure on them, but…

“That’s just what I thought personally. I was like, I wonder who it’s going to be, but one of them is going to be in the semis.”

Last year, Tiafoe became the first Black American man since Arthur Ashe in 1972 to advance to the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows.

His success at the US Open is his greatest grand slam result of the year, and following his four-set triumph over France’s Adrian Mannarino in the third round, he paid respect to his countrymen.

“This is a group that had a lot of ability. Always had a lot of talent,” Tiafoe said.

“You look at…Tommy Paul, took him a while to get going. He believes more than anybody right now. Taylor obviously has been playing well for a while. Myself. Ben, he’s had an up-and-down year, but now he’s playing great tennis. It’s good to see a lot of players playing well. Hopefully we just keep doing it.”

Since it has been more commonplace to see American men in the final rounds of grand slam competitions, there has been growing excitement in the US over this current group of players.

The Australian Open quarterfinal match between Paul and Shelton earlier this year saw Paul advance to the semifinals, becoming the first American since Roddick in 2009 to do so.

“Obviously around the grounds, everyone is really stoked and excited about the Americans,” Paul told the media. “Every time I pass one of the TVs here, it’s like, ‘Is an American going to win a Slam for the first time [in] 20 years?’”

At the US Open in 2017, Sloane Stephens was the only American woman to advance past the quarterfinals.

Even though Madison Keys and Jessica Pegula are still in the running as of the time of publication, Coco Gauff is the only American woman to have progressed to the fourth round of this year’s tournament.

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