The Williams sisters have left American women’s tennis in good hands.
But it has been two decades since a man from the United States won the U.S. Open — or any Grand Slam tournament, for that matter.
And it has been 10 years since an American has been regarded even as a viable threat to win the men’s title.
But times are changing, and Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe and Tommy Paul are changing them — with the help of groundwork laid over the past decade that is starting to bear fruit.
“It’s very encouraging,” USTA Player Development general manager Martin Blackman told the Post. “It’s hard to quantify the multiplier effect you get when you have multiple good players in the same generation, but it’s definitely a multiplier effect.
“These guys have grown up together, they like each other, they respect each other.
They also want to beat each other.
And when one of them has a breakthrough result, the way Frances did last year here, it puts a fire under the other ones.”
Paul agreed that Tiafoe’s run to the 2022 U.S. Open semifinals was inspiring.
“It not only brings confidence to him but also to us, because we all know that we can play at that level, too,” said Paul, who followed Tiafoe’s example and reached the Australian Open semis in January.
Fritz is ranked ninth in the world, Tiafoe is 10th and Paul is 14th.
All three of them advanced to the U.S. Open round of 16 with wins on Friday, as did American Ben Shelton, though he will be playing Paul in the fourth round match.
Fritz, Tiafoe and Paul were all born within eight months of each other in 1997 and 1998.
They all turned pro in 2015 and have pushed each other from afar.
“We’re going to continue to do so. … Now we’re at the top of the game. You see guys do certain things, it makes you believe it, right?” Tiafoe said. “It’s a domino effect after that. … It’s good to see. Hopefully we just keep doing it.”
It took not just work, but also soul-searching to get to this point.
Patrick McEnroe was forced out as the USTA Player Development GM in the midst of the 2014 U.S. Open.
In that tournament, for only the second time in its 134-year history, no American men got past the third round.
Blackman told The Post that changes instituted while McEnroe was in charge and he was working under him are now paying dividends.
“Never will we try to take credit for a player’s success. But collectively speaking, the momentum we’re enjoying right now is the product of a developmental pathway that was administered from 2009 to 2019,” Blackman said.
Three major changes included fixing strained relationships with private coaches, giving them more of a voice.
The USTA also has tailored its 15 sections based on each one’s individual needs, courts, coaches, tourneys, etcetera. And it has instituted a cohesive philosophy to develop all-around athletes.
The USTA tracks age and ranking stats in five major categories on both the men’s and women’s sides. Blackman said the U.S. is now No. 1 in the world in three of the five on each side.
That will help the American men get back to where they want to be.
“The bar is at the top,” Blackman said. “For American tennis, the goal for American tennis will always be to be the best in the world, and to win Grand Slams. It will always be.”
