Fritz, Tiafoe, Brooksby… The hour of the great American awakening has (finally) arrived

“American tennis is doing well. We’re all starting to hit our best years, and we’ll see where that takes us.In two sentences, at the end of her victorious quarter-final at the US Open a little over a month ago, Frances Tiafoe drew up a statement as lucid as it is effective. After almost two decades of lean cows, the t is time for optimism on the part of the United States, and it is not a question here of a vague feeling based on any Coué method, but of a rediscovered serenity because it is based on facts.

To be convinced, a quick glance at the ranking is better than a thousand developments: if Taylor Fritz is the only American in the Top 10 this week – a return expected for more than three years and John Isner -, we do not list any less than nine among the top 50, three players more than the Spanish contingent, the second best-represented nation in this elite. And as Tiafoe on the Flushing Meadows side suggested, this massive presence is also generational as eight of them are 25 or younger.

Americans in the Top 50 at 10/10:

This promising hierarchy is only the result of convincing results on the circuit. In Tokyo last Sunday, Fritz and Tiafoe faced off for the title, which was the 5th all-American final of the season, a first since… 2002. Twenty years ago, the last glorious period of American tennis thus touched its end in the wake of the Pete Sampras-Andre Agassi generation. The following year, Andy Roddick won the US Open, which is the last triumph of the United States in one of the four monuments of world tennis.

The return of number and variety

The sequel was therefore (much) more difficult with a lack of variety in the profiles of the players who broke through. Lead service giants John Isner (winner of a Masters 1000 in Miami in 2018) and Sam Querrey, retired since the last US Open, respectively semi-finalists at Wimbledon in 2018 and 2017, were the main providers of results. They have given way in recent years to their natural heir in the field, Reilly Opelka, but alongside him, a whole young generation has hatched with a return of a certain tennis variety and an emulation that benefits everyone.

“As Americans, we all push each other. Fritz won Indian Wells this year. Reilly (Opelka) made the final in Toronto last year. Fritz and I went far at Wimbledon. He could have gone to the semis there, his loss to Rafa (Nadal) was hard, heartbreaking. Overall the guys are doing well. Tommy (Paul) is playing well. Turns out it fell on me this time, but I’m sure next year they’ll do the same. Everyone is super capable“, had again underlined Tiafoe during the last US Open.

And for good reason, the qualities of each other are rich and complement each other. What do the solid, clean and unadorned tennis of a Sebastian Korda have in common with the atypical, tactical and feisty tennis of a Jenson Brooksby whose character is reminiscent of Andy Murray? The two young wolves were also part with their compatriot Brandon Nakashima of the eight qualified for the Masters Next Gen last year. If Brooksby, injured, could not participate, they should therefore have represented between them almost half of the table.

With the end of the Big 3, an era of opportunity opens

This success also confirms the effectiveness of the US university system: half of the 12 Americans in the Top 100 come from it (John Isner, Maxime Cressy, Brandon Nakashima, Marcos Giron, Jeffrey John Wolf and Mackenzie McDonald), as do Cameron Norrie and Arthur Rinderknech. As the era of the Big 3 monsters comes to an end with the retirement of Roger Federer and the days of Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are numbered, the opportunities to shine in Grand Slams should be more plentiful. Except that there is no Carlos Alcaraz type prodigy in the ranks.

Reviewing the United States dominating tennis as in the 1980s is obviously not on the agenda. As a reminder, just 40 years ago, two Americans monopolized the top of the ATP rankings – Jimmy Connors ahead of John McEnroe -, four were in the Top 10 and… 25 in the Top 50. Two years later, during the 1984 edition of Wimbledon, they were 56 entered in the 1st round, that is to say almost half of the table! Over the years and the globalization of tennis, the grip has logically diminished little by little, until it disappeared.

Mourning hegemony but cultivating legitimate ambitions

But seeing an American soon win a Major is no longer utopian. The main stakeholders are now claiming this objective. After her half in Flushing, Frances Tiafoe said to herself “capable of winning Grand Slams“. In position to qualify for the Masters in Turin, Taylor Fritz has also reaffirmed his ambitions after his title in Tokyo.”The next objective is to continue to climb. I would like to experience a great Grand Slam adventure: I think that a semi or a Major final is the next step. I was in the quarters at Wimbledon this year and I was very close to achieving it. It takes a Top 5 mentality, so we focus on that.”

If something has never changed across the Atlantic, it is this famous confidence pegged to the body. And the “NextGen made in the USA” with diverse and varied talents intends to cultivate it to sublimate itself. “I think our generation is going to be really strong in the future and Americans are only going to get better. It looks pretty bright. The next ten years look more promising than the recent past and I think there will be guys who go far in Grand Slams on a more regular basis.“, had still affirmed Brooksby with Forbes last year.

It’s of course anecdotal but the last Laver Cup stolen by Team World from Europe thanks in particular to Fritz and Tiafoe confirmed that the Americans were once again on the rise. It’s up to them to confirm it in the Grand Slam in 2023. For the 20th anniversary of Andy Roddick’s title in Flushing, it wouldn’t lack panache.