US Open is a letdown for American men as decades-long drought continues

NEW YORK — Any way you swing it, this year’s US Open was a letdown for the American men.

The Americans entered the tournament at Flushing Meadows with a chance to build on the momentum of last year, when Taylor Fritz advanced to the Open final and Frances Tiafoe joined him (and lost to him) in the semifinals.

The U.S. had four men — No. 4 Fritz, No. 6 Ben Shelton, No. 14 Tommy Paul and No. 17 Tiafoe — seeded within the top 20 at this year’s event.

But none made it past the quarterfinal, nor did any of the Americans ranked below them.

It’s been 22 years since Andy Roddick won the US Open in 2003. That’s the last time an American man won the US Open — or any Grand Slam, for that matter.

“This is my favorite tournament,” Shelton said on Aug. 22, two days before the start of the Open. “I think that we’ve got a lot of guys … who can make deep runs here and play against the best players in the world. I think that it’s a matter of time for us.”

This is the first time since 2021 that an American man did not make it to the US Open semifinals.

The ascendant Shelton, 22, appeared poised for a deep run before a left shoulder injury forced him to retire from his third-round match against France’s Adrian Mannarino.

The left-handed Shelton won two of the first three sets that day before he began experiencing the shoulder issue during the fourth. He lost that set, then withdrew before the fifth.

Shelton was in the midst of his best professional season — he went to the Australian Open semifinals, the fourth round of the French Open and the Wimbledon quarterfinals — which inspired hope ahead of his home Slam.

About an hour after Shelton’s early exit, Tiafoe was defeated in straight sets by Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff, also in the third round.

“It’s going to be hard to swallow how I played today, and being out of the US Open, for sure, this early,” Tiafoe said.

Paul, too, was defeated in the third round, going the distance against No. 23 Alexander Bublik but ultimately falling 7-6(5), 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-1.

That left Fritz, 27, as the final hope, but he failed to exorcise his demons against seventh-seeded Novak Djokovic, 38, who improved his head-to-head record to an incredible 11-0.

Fritz started 0 for 10 on break points in that quarterfinals defeat, dropping the first two sets and ultimately losing in four.

“To be honest, the fact I was 0-10, that actually almost sounds better for me than it really was, because that’s not counting how many times I had 15-30, Love-30, 30-All,” Fritz said. “The fact that I was 0-10, that’s putting it nicely. I had so many more chances that you’re not going to see on a stat line.”

American men used to dominate the US Open, with Jimmy Connors and Pete Sampras winning five apiece and John McEnroe winning four.

But that was a long time ago, and in the decades since, it’s been all about the international juggernauts.

Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic combined to win the Open 13 times between 2004 and 2023.

Now, Jannik Sinner of Italy and Carlos Alcaraz of Spain are the heavyweights hanging over any tournament. And Djokovic continues to prove he has something left in the tank, advancing to the semifinals in all four of the major tournaments this year.

Alcaraz won the Open in 2022, followed by Djokovic in 2023 and Sinner in 2024.

“I was really excited at … what I was looking at in the draw,” Fritz said after Tuesday’s loss. “Oh, I will have the opportunity to do the coolest thing ever, play Novak, potentially try to go through Novak, Carlos and Sinner. I thought that was kind of cool. I like the challenge.”

But the challenge proved to be too much — and, thus, the drought continues.

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