The five former American tennis players who Novak Djokovic labeled as ‘incredible’ and what he didn’t agree with about John Isner

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American tennis has made significant strides over recent years as the stars of the ATP Tour look to compete for Major trophies.

Four American men are currently ranked in the ATP’s top 20, while two are inside the world’s top ten, a marked improvement from years past.

Taylor Fritz reached last year’s US Open final, ending 2024 ranked number four in the world, the highest year-end ranking for an American male since James Blake, 18 years earlier.

American stars continued to impress into the new year, as Ben Shelton beat Lorenzo Sonego to advance to his second-career Major semi-final at the 2025 Australian Open.

27-year-old Tommy Paul also made headlines as he broke into the top ten for the first time following his run to the quarter-finals at Melbourne Park.

Youngsters Alex Michelsen and Learner Tien made themselves heard down under, securing several impressive victories on their way to the fourth round.

Things are certainly trending in the right direction for American tennis, something one ATP legend noticed back in 2023.

Novak Djokovic said Americans were ‘so successful’ two years ago as he listed their most ‘incredible’ players

Heading into the quarter-finals of the 2023 US Open, three of the eight remaining participants were American.

Speaking ahead of his quarter-final match with America’s Taylor Fritz, then 23-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic gave his thoughts on his upcoming battles with the best from the USA.

“Well, I assume there’s going to be more support for Taylor Fritz in our next match,” he said.

“Obviously eventually if I win, to play [Ben] Shelton or [Frances] Tiafoe in the semis.

“We’re in America playing against home players, it’s something that I would be surprised if it’s otherwise, to be honest, so I know what I’m expecting, and I’m going to get ready for that mentally.”

Djokovic went on to explain how the emergence of American talent in New York was a positive for the sport.

“I think it’s important for a very big and important country in the tennis world, like America is, to have three tennis players from America in quarter-finals of a Slam,” he said.

“It’s important for this tournament; it’s one of the four Majors, one of the four most important events in the history of our sport.

“There’s a lot of excitement about Americans being so successful lately, Tiafoe played semis last year, Tommy Paul faced me in semis of Australia this year.

“I think it’s great, it’s great for attention towards the tennis, towards US Open, it’s important that we have American players doing well.”

The Serbian star then listed some of the greatest players in the history of American tennis before arguing that two of the nation’s more recent stars were perhaps underappreciated.

“America has had some all-time greats: Pete Sampras, [Andre] Agassi, [John] McEnroe, [Andy] Roddick, [Jimmy] Connors, incredible players over the years,” he said.

“Of course, when you are used to champions and number ones in the world, Grand Slam winners, anything except that is not a success, right?

“It’s a very high standard criteria for these guys to meet that you had players that were top ten, like John Isner after Andy Roddick.

“If he didn’t win a Slam, people think it’s kind of failed career, which is something I don’t agree with, but again I understand because America is such a big country in tennis.”

Comparing American tennis stars results at Grand Slam tournaments

Djokovic mentioned ten American tennis players, but how well did they perform at the four biggest tennis tournaments?

Only six were able to lift the title, although some came closer than others to winning a first Major.

Isner came closest to Grand Slam success at Wimbledon in 2018, when he lost a marathon match against South Africa’s Kevin Anderson.

Falling to a crushing 6-7, 7-6, 7-6, 4-6, 24-26 defeat, Isner’s dreams of Major glory came crashing down on Centre Court.

The likes of Fritz, Shelton, Paul, and Tiafoe will all be searching for a first Grand Slam title when tennis heads to Paris for the French Open on Sunday, May 25.