American Tennis Players Shine at the US Open
This year’s US Open showcases an impressive presence of American tennis players in the men’s draw, the largest in the last 25 years. The competition kicked off with dominant performances by two of the country’s top representatives: Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton. Ben Shelton, seeded number 6 and two-time Grand Slam semi-finalist, defeated qualifier Ignacio Buse of Peru in just 2 hours and 7 minutes, with a score of 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. For the second year in a row, Shelton kicked off the action at Arthur Ashe Stadium, coinciding with the start of the tournament on a Sunday instead of the traditional Monday. For his part, Taylor Fritz, seeded number 4 and runner-up at Flushing Meadows last year, needed less than 10 minutes to secure his victory against American Emilio Nava, who received a special invitation, with a result of 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 at Louis Armstrong Stadium. In total, there are 23 men representing the United States in the tournament, the highest number since 1997. Fritz qualified the US Open as “the most important tournament for us, the Americans, throughout the year.” In the women’s division, the American representation has 25 players.This edition marks the first Grand Slam with two American tennis players seeded among the top eight since the 2007 US Open. They all pursue a common goal: the first individual Grand Slam title for an American man since Andy Roddick’s victory in New York in 2003. Shelton, who reached the US Open semifinals in 2023, expressed that this tournament is “the pinnacle of tennis for me, what I dreamed of since I was a child.” During the match, Shelton showed highlights, accumulating twice as many winners as Buse. One of them was a powerful forehand around the net, similar to the style of his idol, Rafael Nadal. Shelton won the point on 26 of 33 occasions when he approached the net and saved Buse’s five break opportunities. Since the beginning of 2024, Shelton has a 21-0 record against unseeded opponents in Grand Slam tournaments, surpassed only by Jannik Sinner (22-0). Fritz, for his part, had an impeccable performance at the net, winning 13 of 14 points, and neutralized the four break points he faced, driven by “the confidence I have knowing that I have played well here before”. Fritz has accumulated 22 victories in his last 27 matches since the end of the French Open, the most victories on the men’s circuit during that period. Both Shelton and Fritz will have two days off before their second-round matches on Wednesday. Shelton will face Pablo Carreño Busta, while Fritz will wait for the winner of the match between Sebastian Baez and Lloyd Harris. In other men’s singles results on Sunday, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain defeated Alexander Shevchenko of Russia, and young Czech Jakub Mensik overcame Nicolas Jarry of Chile. Luciano Darderi of Italy, seeded number 32, defeated Rinky Hijikata of Australia, and Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech needed four sets to beat Roberto Carballes Baena of Spain. Tomas Machac and Jiri Lehecka also advanced. Novak Djokovic, seeded number 7 and winner of 24 Grand Slam titles, defeated 19-year-old Californian Learner Tien in the night session.“I think the competition among all of us pushes us and motivates us to improve,” Fritz commented on the men’s participation.
Taylor Fritz
