Since US Open 2011, the only American men to reach a Quarterfinals at a Grand Slam are Sam Querrey, Tennys Sandgren, John Isner, and Frances Tiafoe

[Cashman]

I think it's an infrastructure/youth player development issue

I do think part of it is that most youth players in the US are more focused on college scholarships rather than a professional career.

I can’t blame them - financially, it is a much safer bet - but it does mean that they don’t necessarily take the long-term attitude that is necessary to become a successful pro. Sampras would never have rebuilt his backhand if he’d been focused on maintaining a good junior ranking.

 

[Sysyphus]

You keep saying they don't have the athleticism these days.

In my opinion it's the only thing they do have. Sure they're not better athletes than the Big 4, but it's not like the 90's Slam champs run circles around them and the ones that do wield nerf gun weapons or thereabouts.

Guys like Zverev, Medvedev and Tsitsipas have a court coverage and lateral movement that till recently has been unheard of for guys their size.

Tennis has become more brutally physical, but surely less skilled in certain respects.

 

[Red Rick]

Guys like Zverev, Medvedev and Tsitsipas have a court coverage and lateral movement that till recently has been unheard of for guys their size.

Tennis has become more brutally physical, but surely less skilled in certain respects.

Don't think Tsitsipas is that unheard of, peak Monfils runs circles around while probably being wrongly positioned to hit the ball. But yeah.

I do think it's mainly the tall guys who are moving better. It's also largely due to body type. These lanky players are a new thing, I wonder if HGH use is flooding the junior tour.

 

[Sysyphus]

Don't think Tsitsipas is that unheard of, peak Monfils runs circles around while probably being wrongly positioned to hit the ball.

Ya, was just about to edit that into my post. Monfils is the anomaly.

Still, Tsitsipas covers the court better than the majority of former players around that size. Zed and Med I rate as far above anyone standing 6ft5+.

 

[Red Rick]

Ya, was just about to edit that into my post. Monfils is the anomaly.

Still, Tsitsipas covers the court better than the majority of former players around that size. Zed and Med I rate as far above anyone standing 6ft5+.

Yeah true. Don't really buy it's better than the Big 4 if you adjust for height though. Monfils is always gonna be an anomaly cause we literally know he was a track prodigy, so for tennis you pretty much know he's the upper ceiling for top end speed on a tennis court. We could talk about Bolt at 196 but he doesn't really beat the competition in the first 15m.

 

[Sysyphus]

Yeah true. Don't really buy it's better than the Big 4 if you adjust for height though. Monfils is always gonna be an anomaly cause we literally know he was a track prodigy, so for tennis you pretty much know he's the upper ceiling for top end speed on a tennis court. We could talk about Bolt at 196 but he doesn't really beat the competition in the first 15m.

Yeah, agreed. The big 4 are the best athletes from a larger talent pool (more normal height), so they >> med & zed as athletic specimens.

 

[Red Rick]

Yeah, agreed. The big 4 are the best athletes from a larger talent pool (more normal height), so they >> med & zed as athletic specimens.

Yeah.

Medvedev is hard to judge for me cause what he gains in athleticism he completely lacks in weight of shot for somebody his size. The nonlinearity between groundstrokes and height ultimately makes the ideal height around 190 I think.

 

[SonnyT]

The most promising American tennis youngsters should forget about Florida and California, and head straight to Europe for training. Just as young Djokovic headed for Germany & Spain, and young Murray headed for Spain.

Just as Latin baseball youngsters head to USA for training. And young Canadian basketball and baseball youngsters head dead south.

It has been proven that the American tennis academy/college system is great at turning out Roddick and Isner play-alikes, but not great at anything else!

 

[BladeDaywalker]

With the result of the 2020 French Open and the Quarterfinal Draw almost being set for the Australian Open, once again, the only American Men to have made the Quarterfinal since 2011 US Open at a Major are Sam Querrry, Tennys Sandgren, John Isner, and Frances Tiafoe.

Taylor Fritz seem to be the only one who could make it to another Quarterfinal.