American tennis is thriving at the moment, and despite the men struggling to secure Grand Slam titles, the emergence of Coco Gauff has secured at least one elite-level female to thrive in the WTA for the next decade at least.
She is joined by a whole host of talent, and a roster that only grows in strength and size.
With the Olympics coming up too, there is a huge chance for these players to shoot themselves into infamy with a strong run.
They have plenty of fine examples to seek to emulate too, with two of those actually joining up to chat about American tennis on a podcast.
John Isner shares what Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe and Tommy Paul are really like
Drafting John Isner onto the Served with Andy Roddick podcast marks the latest American tennis star, albeit recently retired, to join the former world number one to talk all things tennis.
Andy Roddick first asked: ’Frances [Tiafoe] and Taylor [Fritz] and Tommy Paul. What do they do on a Tuesday afternoon at 1:30 in a locker room?’
This prompted his compatriot to respond, actually detailing what his relationship with Fritz in particular is really like.
He noted: ‘They tick a lot differently to what you or I would, Andy, or myself and Sam [Querrey] when I came on tour. I had a lot of respect for them and their games but I had absolutely nothing in common with any of their guys. Maybe Tommy, he likes to do the fishing, but Taylor, Frances and Riley [Opelka], I have nothing in common with those guys.
‘But I respect them at the same time. I don’t think I found myself going out for dinner with Taylor Fritz, apart from when we played a team event in Australia, but that’s just because we had different interests and likes and dislikes. We were very cordial at the same time, I would encourage him and he would watch me. We were fans of each other.’
Here’s every Team USA player going to play tennis at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Something has changed in Taylor Fritz this year
Although he may not have actually won that much more this year than any other year, it cannot be denied that there seems to be more ruthlessness to Taylor Fritz this year.
After all, looking at the Grand Slams alone, and despite having the US Open yet to come, this marks his best-ever year for performances in the majors, having reached the quarter-finals in Melbourne and Wimbledon, and the fourth round of Roland Garros.
He had only ever reached the quarter-finals of any slam twice before in his career career, and the fourth round just once.
This steady progression can be owed to a few things, but perfecting his serve has certainly helped him fire his way out of a few tricky spots.
It helped him win the Delray Beach Open as well as Eastbourne again, and also allowed him to reach the semi-finals in Madrid and the quarter-finals in Rome, two ATP 1000 events.
Should he maintain this trajectory, 2025 might just be the year where Fritz starts truly challenging for the game’s elite honours.
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