Are any American men ranked in the Top 25 in the world? No. American males expected to reach the semis of any Grand Slams in 2021? No. American male Grand Slam winners? It has been almost 20 years. American men dominating one quarter of the 2021 French Open draw? Um, yes.
Seven American men, six in the same quarter, will be in action on Wednesday at Roland Garros.
Six Round 1 Wins in One Quarter
In #2 seed Danill Medvedev’s quarter of the draw, six of the eight second-round matches will feature an American. Americans ranging from #31 seed John Isner to world #119, qualifier Mackenize McDonald, won their first-round matches in Paris. Two others, Sam Querry and Frances Tiafoe, lost to fellow Americans Isner and Steve Johnson. Only Grand Slam newbie Sebastian Korda lost to a non-American in this quarter.
The luck of the draw, and the mistaken decision to seed Rafael Nadal #3, placed nine of the 13 American males in Paris in this one quarter without a dominant clay-court player. Other American winners include #32 seed Reilly Opelka, World #52 Tommy Paul–who outlasted Australian Chris O’Connell 10-8 in the fifth set–and Marcos Giron, who advanced after #16 seed Grigor Dimitrov retired after he injured his back with a 2-0 set lead.
Up Next
Checking the rankings, only Opelka holds a clear points advantage over his next opponent, World #72, Spain’s Jaume Munar. Isner, Johnson, and Giron match up against Filip Krajinovic, Thiago Monteiro, and Guido Pella, respectively. Each of these contests matches players within shouting distance of each other in the world rankings.
After surviving three rounds of qualifying and knocking off Emil Ruusuvuori in four sets in Round 1, McDonald faces #22 seed Cristian Garin. On paper, Garin holds a ranking almost 100 slots ahead of McDonald. The 26-year-old looks to show that paper is not red clay. This is a great opportunity for McDonald.
The Toughest Test
After grinding through five sets, including an extended fifth, to get here, Tommy Paul faces Medvedev and the steepest hill during Wednesday’s second-round play. It will be the first matchup between the young American and favored Russian. Still, Paul enjoys playing on red clay while Medvedev, the world #2, has not had much success on the surface recently. Paul has eight wins on European clay this season, Medvedev earned his second in his first-round match on Monday. It was the #2 seed’s first every French Open match victory.
With fits and starts, Paul nudged himself forward in the past few years. Breakout wins like this can propel careers. Of the six Americans still standing in this quarter, Paul has the biggest opportunity, and the toughest task.
Only This Quarter
While Americans will play in six of the eight matches in this quarter, they are nearly absent elsewhere. In the other three quarters combined, Americans went 1-3. Only #30 seed Taylor Fritz survived by knocking off Portugal’s Joao Sousa in three sets.
Partially due to the randomness of the draw, six players, none ranked in the top 30, will wake up Wednesday with a chance to advance to the final 32, maybe further. This year, there is an American quarter in Paris. What will they do with it?
Main Photo from Getty.
