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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
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6 min read
The next American Wimbledon champion is probably ‘playing wide
receiver on an NFL team’ as US men endure grand slam drought
By Ben Church, CNN
Updated:
11:38 AM EDT, Wed July 2, 2025
Source: CNN
There was once a time when American men dominated the world at .
The likes of Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, and Arthur Ashe saw
widespread success in the 70s and 80s, before Pete Sampras simply
dominated the 90s at the All England Lawn Tennis Club.
When Sampras won his final Wimbledon title in 2000, the realistic
expectation was that it wouldn’t be too long before another American
man replicated the achievement. In reality, though, it would be the
last title for a very long time.
It is now 25 years and counting since an American man has lifted the
Wimbledon trophy above his head.
Since then, the competition has been hogged by arguably the greatest
tennis players in history, with Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak
Djokovic and Andy Murray winning every title between 2003 and 2023.
Andy Roddick came closest to breaking the streak in 2009, but the
American eventually lost a memorable five-set final against Federer.
Big serving John Isner then reached the semifinals in 2018 before
losing a marathon match against eventual runner-up Kevin Anderson.
No American man has really been able to get close since.
It’s quite the statistic for one of the biggest countries on the
planet, with such a deep history in the sport. It also stands in stark
contrast to both the women’s game and the doubles tournaments in
which the US has continued to find success.
But tennis journalist Matt Futterman says he is not surprised by the
lack of success in the men’s ranks, given the quality they’ve had
to compete against over the last two decades.
“It doesn’t surprise me because those handful of guys have just
been so much better than everybody else,” Futterman, who works for
The Athletic, told ahead of this year’s Wimbledon.
“It’s just this era, you have to be a unicorn to win a grand slam
title these days. If you had asked me 25 years ago, ‘Would it be 25
years before another American man won Wimbledon?’ I would have said
that’s crazy, but the way it’s gone down, it doesn’t surprise me
all that much.”
An opportunity lost?
Now, as players start another Wimbledon campaign, the landscape of
men’s tennis looks very different.
Murray, Federer and Nadal have all since retired and Djokovic has shown
signs that his powers may be on the decline.
In their absence, Italian and Spain’s have stepped up to fill the
void, kicking off what looks to be an exciting rivalry for the future.
Already, though, the duo appears to be head and shoulders above the
best US men’s players who haven’t jumped off like many hoped they
would have.
World No. 5 Taylor Fritz is currently the highest ranked men’s player
from the US, with Ben Shelton ranked No. 10. Frances Tiafoe and Tommy
Paul both currently sit just outside the Top 10 but none of the above
have ever won a grand slam title.
In fact, no American man has claimed a singles major honor across any
of the four grand slams since Andy Roddick won the US Open in 2003.
Wimbledon, being played on grass, also poses another problem for some
of the current crop.
Tiafoe and Shelton, for example, have never made it past the fourth
round. Paul, meanwhile, reached the quarterfinals last year and Fritz
has reached the same round twice.
Fritz, in particular, perhaps should have done better with both of his
opportunities in 2022 and 2024, and recently said he feels Wimbledon is
his best chance at a grand slam title.
His recent performances on grass this season go some way to backing up
his claim.
“This is a huge week for me with the recent results on grass so I was
thinking about that during this match,” he said after winning his
first round match Tuesday.
“I really didn’t want to go out in the first round.”
Unless something miraculous happens this year, though, the 25-year
streak looks set to continue with Alcaraz the stand out favorite for
the men’s title, despite a tough five-set test in the first round in
the form of Fabio Fognini.
The Spaniard is coming off the back of victory at Roland Garros and at
and his game is arguably best suited to the grass court game.
“I don’t think any of them (US men’s players) have more than a
2% chance of winning the tournament,” Futterman said.
“They would all have to play a level that they’ve just never shown
before.”
Tennis faces stiff competition
The question, then, naturally turns to why the US hasn’t yet been
able to develop a men’s player capable of competing for a Wimbledon
title in recent years.
The answer, in truth, is multifaceted.
First, modern day tennis is now played by hundreds of nations around
the world, with facilities more readily available for upcoming stars no
matter where they were born – many top international players, for
example, train in the United States from an early age.
In the past, tennis was a more closed shop, allowing the likes of the
US to dominate for so long.
For Futterman, there is also the fact that men’s tennis in the US has
to compete with so many other sports.
“There’s probably a men’s grand slam champion playing wide
receiver on an team right now,” he says, metaphorically.
“You know, is probably a grand slam champion. probably would have
been a grand slam champion. If you put a racket in those guys’ hands
when they were five years old, you never know.
“There’s a lot of sports in America that take great athletes off
the tennis court.”
After 25 years without success, every man representing the US at
Wimbledon this year will hope they can be the one who snaps the
unwanted record.
While Futterman says there isn’t a huge amount of pressure back home
– with the nation content with how well the women’s players like
Serena Williams, Sofia Kenin, Coco Gauff and Madison Keys have done in
recent years – the men believe now is the time to get back on top.
“I mean, we’ve been peaking. It’s just a matter of doing it,”
Tiafoe told reporters after his first round win on Monday.
“Me and Taylor (Fritz), we played in the semis of a slam last year.
Ben (Shelton) made semis of slams. Tommy (Paul) has made semis of
slams. Fritz made a final I think. It’s just a matter of getting it
done.
“I really feel like if we continue to put ourselves in those
positions, we’re going to get it done. I really feel like I can.
It’s a matter of putting it together.
“But I think we’re definitely peaking. I think now it’s just
about trying to finish.”
This year’s tournament had gotten off to a good start for the US men.
Tiafoe made light work of his first round opponent, beating Elmer
Møller in straight sets on Monday.
However, the world No. 12 crashed out of the second round after losing
to British hopeful Cameron Norrie.
Elsewhere, Paul breezed past Johannus Monday without dropping a set in
his first round on Tuesday.
Fritz also came through a brutal five-set thriller against Frenchman
Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, in a game that spanned two days. The match
was suspended by organizers on Monday due to the tournament’s strict
nighttime curfew, with the deciding set being played out Tuesday.
Fritz survived Perricard’s incredible serve – the Frenchman
recorded Wimbledon’s fastest ever on Monday (153 mph or 246 kph) –
to book his place in the next round.
Elsewhere, Shelton faced a resilient Alex Bolt in his first round match
on Tuesday, with the American winning in straight sets 6-4, 7-6(1),
7-6(4).
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