On July 4th Weekend, Four American Men Reach 4th Round At Wimbledon

The American men are giving their tennis fans something to cheer about on July 4th weekend.

For the first time since 1999, four Americans — No. 11 seed Taylor Fritz (24), No. 23 Frances Tiafoe (24), No. 30 Tommy Paul (25) and unseeded Brandon Nakashima (220) — are into the round of 16 at Wimbledon after eight made the third round.

“We don’t have what everyone’s looking for, the world No. 1, but we have so much more depth than we’ve ever had,” said Fritz who fill face qualifier Jason Kubler of Australia on Monday after he handled business against Alex Molcan of Slovakia, 6-4, 6-1, 7-6(3).

“We are only going to keep improving, getting better.”

No American man has reached the quarters of a major since Tennys Sandgren at the 2020 Australian Open, and no American man has made the semis of a major since John Isner at the 2018 Wimbledon.

No American man has won a major title since Andy Roddick at the 2003 U.S. Open, and Roddick was also the last American man to reach a major final, losing three Wimbledon finals to Roger Federer, most recently in 2009.

“Great first week for USA men,” ESPN’s Patrick McEnroe said earlier this week from Wimbledon. “We have seen this before. The question now is can anyone go deep into Week 2?”

Said ESPN’s Rennae Stubbs: “I think it’s fantastic and success breeds success. The men are really elevating each other and i think there is a realistic chance we will see an American in the semis.”

Tiafoe advanced in four sets over Alexander Bublik on Friday and will meet veteran David Goffin on Sunday.

Paul has yet to drop a set in the tournament but will have his hands full with Britain’s Cam Norrie, the No. 9 seed who has already won three sets 6-0.

The winners of those matches will square off in the quarterfinals on the top half of the draw where No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic is the favorite to come through to the final.

“We always feed off each other,” Tiafoe said. “We all believe it…we just gotta keep going.”

On the bottom half of the draw, Nakashima, ranked No. 56, beat No. 13 Denis Shapovalov in four sets in the second round. He cruised into the fourth round with a straight-sets win over Daniel Galan of Colombia, 6-4, 6-4, 6-1, and awaits the winner between No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas and Nick Kyrgios.

At 20, he is the youngest American man to reach the fourth round since Roddick in 2003.

The 6-foot-5 Fritz is also on the bottom half and with one more win would reach his first major quarterfinal. He is coming off winning the title on grass at Eastbourne, where he beat fellow American Maxime Cressy in three sets in the final.

“You know, I just need to take it one match at a time and try not to look too far in the draw,” he said after his second-round win. “I know that certain parts near me have kind of opened up a little bit. If I look at the wh0le draw and think, ‘Oh, I can make it to the quarters, semis, whatever,’ then that’s only going to make me more nervous in the upcoming matches so it’s just one at a time.”

If Fritz does reach the quarters, he could face No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal, who has won the Australian and French Opens in the same year for the first time in his career and is trying to win the third leg of the calendar Grand Slam.