At long last, the Wild Cards for the US Open mens singles draw have been released. They are as follows:
Main Draw
1. Jared Donaldson USA
2. Bjorn Fratangelo USA
3. Ryan Harrison USA
4. Austin Kraijeck USA
5. Ryan Shane USA
6. Frances Tiafoe USA
7. Pierre-Hughes Herbert FRA (FFT)
8. Lleyton Hewitt AUS (TA)
Qualifying
1. Taylor Fritz USA
2. Marcos Giron USA
3. Stefan Kozlov USA
4. Mitchell Krueger USA
5. Michael Mmoh USA
6. Reilly Opelka USA
7. Tommy Paul USA
8. Noah Rubin USA
9 TBD (National Playoffs champion)
US Open Wild Cards: Hits, Misses, and Insults
Some of these choices were to be expected. It seemed obvious with the collaboration between Tennis Australia and the USTA that Lleyton Hewitt would receive a WC for his final USO. Ryan Shane was the winner of the NCAA Championship (who always receives a WC if he’s an American), and Bjorn Fratangelo won the USTA Wild Card Challenge. As a result, these two were rewarded WCs. It was also no surprise to see 18 year old Taylor Fritz, the Roland Garros Junior Boys Champion in the list of QWCs.
Francis Tiafoe, a 17 year old from Maryland, is the youngest Orange Bowl Champion in history. He is said to be the next great American player. He played his first Slam main draw at Roland Garros this year and has received a WC into the US Open main draw as well. He was awarded his WC for earning the most points at the American summer Challengers.
Other interesting young prospects were given QWCs suchs as Stefan Kozlov (17), Micael Mmoh (17), Tommy Paul (18), Riley Opelka (17), and Noah Rubin (19).
The choice that has seemed to cause a lot of buzz is Ryan Harrison for a multitude of reasons. For starters, despite an encouraging run in Acapulco which saw Harrison take out then World #11 Grigor Dimitrov, he has shown almost no results that warrant him a WC. He has failed to win a tour level match since this spring and a lot of his matches have been one sided defeats.
For the fourth time in five years, Ryan Harrison gets a WC into the US Open. Not sure what he has done recently to deserve one though…
— Ian DW (@sportdw) August 18, 2015
Controversy has surrounded him after his qualifying match in Cincinnati against Australian teenager Thanasi Kokkinakis. Both had various controversial exchanges throughout the match, and after the match Harrison stated: “Wawrinka should’ve decked Kyrgios, and I should deck that kid.” There is no doubt that Harrison made a reference to the spat between Kyrgios and Wawrinka the previous week. Many believe that this sort of behavior should deprive him of a WC.
In addition, Robby Ginepri and Michael Russell are both retiring following the US Open, so it can be argued that they are more deserving of the WC than Harrison is. It is a fair argument considering Harrison will have many more opportunities in the future to prove himself while these two do not. Ginepri, a former World #15, has won three ATP tour titles in his career and has had multiple Slam successes including a run to the US Open semifinals back in 2005, losing in five sets to Andre Agassi. So not only is he an American player about to retire, but a former semifinalist at this event. Michael Russell at the age of 37 has a career high of World #60 but has reached the second week of a major before. During that run, he held match match points against Gustavo “Guga” Kuerten, the eventual champion of the event at Roland Garros in 2001. Neither are young nor are they household names so they will often be ignored in discussions like this. I do believe that they deserve a shoutout in this discussion as it never feels good to be dismissed by your nation’s biggest tournament after giving your life to this sport. Contrary to belief, neither should be dismissed as “nobodies” and both had moments in the spotlight that made American tennis proud. But it is all up for debate.
Main Photo:
