US Open is a disappointment for American men when drought continues

Whatever the way you swing it, this year’s US Open is disappointment for American men.

Americans entered the tournament at Flushing Meadows with the opportunity to build a momentum last year, when Taylor Fritz advanced to the open final and Frances Tafoe joined him (and lost to him) in the semifinals.

The US has four men – No. 4 Fritz, No. 6 Ben Shelton, No. 14 Tommy Paul and No. 17 TIAFOE – Featured in the top 20 at this year’s event.

But no one made it through the quarter -finals, nor there were no Americans under them.

It has been 22 years since Andy Roddick won the US Open in 2003. That was the last time an American man won the US Open – or Grand Slam, in this case.

“This is my favorite tournament,” Shelton said on August 22, two days before the start of Open. “I think we have many men … who can make a deep trip here and play against the best players in the world. I think it’s a matter of time for us.”

This is the first time since 2021 that an American man did not reach the US semifinals.

Shelton who rose, 22, appeared ready to run deep before the left shoulder injury forced him to retire from the third round match against France Adrian Mannarino.

Shelton Kidal won two of the first three sets that day before he began to experience shoulder problems for the fourth. He lost the set, then retreated before the fifth.

Shelton was in the middle of his best professional season – he went to the Australian Open semifinals, the fourth round of the French Open, and the quarter -finals of Wimbledon – who inspired hope in front of Slam’s house.

About an hour after Shelton’s early release, Tiafoe was defeated in a direct set by Jan-Lennard Struff Germany, also in the third round.

“It will be difficult to swallow how I play today, and get out of the US Open, surely, this is the beginning,” Tafoe said.

Paul, also, defeated in the third round, traveling the distance against No. 23 Alexander Bublik but eventually falls 7-6 (5), 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-1.

That made Fritz, 27, as the last hope, but he failed to drive out his devil to the seventh seed Novak Djokovic, 38, which increased the head-to-head record to an extraordinary 11-0.

Fritz started 0-to-10 on the break in the quarter-finals, dropped the first two sets and finally lost in four.

“To be honest, the fact that I am 0-10, which actually sounds better for me than actually, because it doesn’t count how many times I have 15-30, Love-30, 30-all,” Fritz said. “The fact that I am 0-10, it puts it well. I have more opportunities that you will not see in the stat line.”

Americans usually dominate the US Open, with Jimmy Connors and Pete Sampras won five each and John Mcenroe won four.

But that was a long time ago, and in a few decades since then, everything was about international juggernaut.

Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic joined to win 13 opens between 2004 and 2023.

Now, Jannik Sinner from Italy and Carlos Alsaraz from Spain is a heavyweight hanging in any tournament. And Djokovic continues to prove that he has something left in the tank, advanced to the semifinals in the four main tournaments this year.

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

“I am very excited … what I saw in the lottery,” Fritz said after Tuesday’s defeat. “Oh, I will have the chance to do the coolest things ever, playing novak, potentially trying through Novak, Carlos, and Sinner. I think it’s rather cool. I like the challenges.”

But the challenge has proven too much – and, thus, drought continues.

Initially published: September 7, 2025 at 7:30 am EDT