U.S. men putting on 4th of July bash
WIMBLEDON, England — Just in time for the Fourth of July weekend, the American men are throwing a party on British soil.
As night fell Thursday on the All England Club, eight American men were set to qualify for the third round of the prestigious Wimbledon tournament, accounting for a quarter of the final 32 spots. That’s the most U.S. men in the third round since 1995, when nine qualified in the Sampras-Agassi-CourierChang heyday. It’s also the most in any Grand Slam tournament since the U.S. Open in 1996.
Nearly everywhere one looked Wednesday and Thursday, an American man was slamming or slicing or grinding his way into the final 32, and one more will clinch a spot Friday. The sun seemingly has set on the era when every male American player had a big serve and a forehand and not much else.
Some were familiar faces, like John Isner, bashing his way past hometown favorite Andy Murray. But several were part of the next wave of rising Yanks in their mid-20s — the clique of Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul and Francis Tiafoe that first bonded as teenagers at a national training center in Florida.
And then there were a couple from the wave after that (Jenson Brooksby and Brandon Nakashima) who are still a couple of years away from needing a daily shave. Two Americans, Maxime Cressy and Jack Sock, one new to the scene, the other a veteran, were dueling for the last available spot until rain interrupted their match Thursday on the No. 3 Court.
“It’s been a long, long progression,” said Martin Blackman, the former pro who is the general manager of player development for the United States Tennis Association.
Before anyone stateside rushes out to the liquor store to get some Pimm’s on ice for a championship celebration, it’s worth noting that no one expects any of these players to actually win the men’s singles title, at least not this year. American men’s tennis is deep but light on the top.
Despite the stampede this week, no Americans are in the top 10 and just two are in the top 20 — Fritz and Reilly Opelka. Russia and Spain each have two players in the top 10. Spain, the best tennis country of the past decade, has four players in the top 20.
But for a country whose male talent stock long has been seen as fairly lacking and that’s without a Grand Slam tournament champion since Andy Roddick won the U.S. Open in 2003, depth represents significant progress.
It also serves as a motivational tool. A friendly competition has emerged between the Americans in their mid-20s, led by Fritz, and the ones who’ve just reached the legal drinking age in the United States or aren’t quite there, to be the first to play into the final rounds of a Grand Slam tournament.
“They’re great for us,” Paul, 25, said of Brooksby and Korda, both 21, and Nakashima, 20. “They push us.”
“For tennis to grow, we’re going to need some winners on the men’s side,” he added.
The USTA knows that as well. For years, it has been trying to hone a system to help develop players that will work in a vast country with more than 330 million people and plenty of competition from more popular sports that are cheaper for good young athletes to pursue.
Over the past decade, the organization has tried to create a trout farm rather than find a unicorn. It developed a three-tiered program of local, regional and national camps that bring together top talent throughout the year but also allow kids to stay home for as long as possible and work with their own coaches.
Airfare to the camps isn’t included, but just about everything else is, even some money for private coaches to attend sometimes so they don’t feel squeezed out of the process as a young player gets older and better.
There’s no one-sizefits-all approach.
During the crucial years of development between ages 15 and 22, some players choose to work with USTA coaches at their training centers in Orlando, Fla., or Carson, Calif., outside Los Angeles. Fritz was a part of the USTA program for six years, Paul for five, Opelka for four and Tiafoe for three, Blackman said.
Others, such as Korda, Nakashima and Brooksby, stayed largely outside the system, but they still can qualify for financial support and come to the occasional camp or show up at the training center for competition.
Blackman said he doesn’t want the organization to preach a certain style of play. Cressy’s serve-and-volley game is just as valued as Brooksby’s finesse, Tiafoe’s serve-and-forehand power, and Nakashima’s allcourt approach.
A big task for the next generation and the one right behind them still lies ahead — getting into the top 10 and becoming fixtures in the last matches of the biggest tournaments, the way American women, led by the Williams sisters, have performed for years.
It’s getting closer. “I expect us to do well in all of these tournaments now,” Paul said. “It’s all about winning one more match and going one round deeper.”
Paul never has made the second week of a Grand Slam. On Friday, on the first day of a third round with plenty of American company, he’ll get another chance.