After years of letdowns on the ATP Tour, 2023 was a fruitful year for American tennis. Six different American men reached the quarterfinals of a Slam, though, they are still hunting for that elusive Slam title.
The generation the USTA calls the “97/98’s” finally broke through on the sports’ biggest stages. Taylor Fritz (No. 10), Tommy Paul (No. 13), and Frances Tiafoe (No. 16) finished the 2023 season as the top three ranked Americans, marking the first time three Americans finished inside the year-end top 20 since Mardy Fish, Andy Roddick, and John Isner in 2011.
2024 American breakthroughs
Behind the aforementioned 97/98’s, a new generation of American tennis contenders rose the ranks in 2023. Ben Shelton finished his first full professional season of tennis with a ranking of world No. 17. The 21-year-old notched ten Slam victories, including a run to the Aussie Open quarterfinals and US Open semis.
Sebastian Korda dealt with a wrist injury that kept him sidelined for over three months. That said, the 23-year-old still managed to finish the season with a career-best year-end ranking of No. 24.
Behind the top five American men, we saw depth from the United States that has not been showcased since the 1990’s. Christopher Eubanks won his first career title in Mallorca and set the tennis world on fire with a run to the Wimbledon final eight. He finished the season ranked No. 34 in the world.
Mackenzie McDonald, J.J. Wolf, and Marcos Giron had solid seasons with 24+ tour-level victories. All three finished the 2023 campaign ranked inside the top 60.
Finally, 19-year-old Alex Michelsen announced himself this summer when he went on a nine-match winning streak between his title at the Chicago Challenger and run to the Newport final. Michelsen’s success propelled him into the top 100, and made the decision to skip college and turn pro an easy one.
With so much success in 2023, the buzz around American tennis heading into 2024 was palpable. Unfortunately, less than a week away from the first Slam of the season, we are amidst a collective inauspicious start to the season from the American men.
Americans struggle to start 2024
In the first week of the season, Korda, Michelsen, Shelton, and Wolf all suffered first-round defeats in Brisbane. Korda, Shelton, and Wolf were favorites in their respective matches.
Over in Hong Kong, McDonald was bounced in Round 1 1-6 2-6 by Sebastian Ofner. After receiving a first-round bye, Frances Tiafoe picked up a solid straight-set victory over Miomir Kecmanovic before falling to Juncheng Shang in the quarters.
Americans finished the first week of 2024 with a combined 1-6 record.
As we move into the second week of the season (and the last tune-up events before the Australian Open), things continue to spiral for the Red, White, and Blue.
In Auckland, Eubanks, Wolf, Giron, and Michelsen all fell in the first round. It was again an uninspiring batch of performances, with the 19-year-old the only American to avoid a straight-set loss. Shelton is the No. 1 seed at the ASB Classic in Auckland and picked up his first win of the season over Fabian Marozsan. He will square off against Roberto Carballes Baena in the quarterfinals.
Over in Adelaide, McDonald was dispatched by Kecmanovic in straight sets in the first round. No. 1 seed Paul and No. 3 seed Korda received Round 1 byes and have both moved into the quarterfinals with straight-set wins over Alex Bolt and Lorenzo Sonego, respectively.
It is undoubtedly too early to press the panic button, but a 4-11 combined record to begin the season is not what American tennis fans wanted to see.
Melbourne will be a very interesting two weeks as Paul (SF), Korda (QF), Shelton (QF), and Wolf (4R) all defend a substantial amount of ranking points.
Main Photo Credit: Robert Deutsch – USA TODAY Sports
