A US Open drought for American males that stretches again 20 years is prone to proceed when the yr’s remaining main kicks off in New York subsequent week, John McEnroe mentioned.
It has been 20 years since Andy Roddick hoisted the trophy at Flushing Meadows and though Frances Tiafoe, who made an exhilarating run to the semis final yr, and Taylor Fritz are each ranked within the high 10, the event favourites are just too dominant proper now.
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“It’s arduous to check,” McEnroe mentioned of whether or not anybody not named Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev and even Jannik Sinner may triumph.
“I’d like to see Francis get his act collectively and do one thing, however he bought to the semis, so he’s going to really feel stress even attempting to duplicate that,” mentioned McEnroe, a four-time U.S. Open champion who’s now a broadcaster with ESPN.
“However it might be unimaginable for an American participant to make a breakthrough to me, however the chances are it isn’t going to occur.
“You’ll be able to see it’s going to be Djokovic or Alcaraz, Medvedev is the following man, after which Sinner. After that, it’s going to be fairly powerful to check a man going all the best way.”
Tiafoe’s semifinal look, after beating Spanish nice Rafael Nadal within the spherical of 16, elevated him to a family title, with former First Woman Michelle Obama amongst those that packed into his sold-out matches final yr.
However the North American arduous courtroom swing following Wimbledon has been disappointing for the 25-year-old son of immigrant dad and mom from war-torn Sierra Leone.
After making the quarters at his dwelling event in Washington DC, he suffered first and second spherical losses in Toronto and Cincinnati.
Fritz had a barely extra fruitful summer season however was mauled by Djokovic final week and has by no means made it previous the third spherical in New York, together with a first-round loss final yr.
Ranked ninth, Fritz does have some of the dominant serves within the sport and if his major weapon is firing, a deep run will not be arduous to think about.
Tommy Paul, who beat Alcaraz on the Canadian Open, Wimbledon quarter-finalist Christopher Eubanks and Sebastian Korda are among the many different American gamers who will look to snap the Grand Slam dry spell on the U.S. Open, which runs from August 28-September 10.