How about those Americans? Five U.S. men advance on Day 4 of Wimbledon

LONDON—Despite years of nonstop talk about the lack of success in American men’s tennis, three men from the United States have quietly advanced to the third round of Wimbledon, and two others have moved into the second.

“I think us, as a country, we have sort of turned the corner,” John Isner said after beating Marcos Baghdatis in the first round on Thursday. “I think there [are] a lot of players doing very good things.”

Many are sick and tired of talking about when the next American Grand Slam champion will arrive, but the topic is unavoidable.

“We all try to do the best we can,” said Sam Querrey, who took out Thomaz Bellucci in the second round. “That’s all we do. It doesn’t bug me. I don’t think it bugs John or Steve [Johnson] or Jack [Sock] that we don’t have an American vying for a Slam four times a year. It would be great if we did, but I don’t lose sleep over it.”

Johnson ousted Jeremy Chardy in straight sets to advance to the third round on Thursday, and next faces Grigor Dimitrov.

The last American to win a Grand Slam was Andy Roddick, back in 2003 at Flushing Meadows. The search for another Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Michael Chang or Jim Courier has been in vain for over a decade, with fans missing both the rivalries and the champions.

“[There were] many more rivalries back then, where you felt like guys didn’t actually like each other,” Querrey said. “Everyone now is pretty friendly. Most of it was due to [having] Agassi, Sampras, Chang, Courier—someone in a final at every Slam, it seemed like, for a long time.”

Despite the lack of new champions, the Americans playing right now don’t feel like tennis popularity has been hindered in their country.

“I think tennis is such a big sport in America,” Isner said. “So many people play it.  American tennis fans are pretty thirsty for a player to get inside the Top 10, and stay in the Top 10, and do extremely well in Grand Slams.”

Isner himself has been in the Top 10, reaching No. 9 in 2012. But he’s had trouble staying there, and he’s only reached the quarterfinals of a major once, at the U.S. Open back in 2011.

“We don’t have anyone in the Top 10,” Querrey said. “I think it’s still not nearly as [popular] as it was in the 1990s. It would help to have a Grand Slam champion, but [I] don’t think it’s struggling, necessarily.”

Querrey reached No. 17 in 2011, but he finished that year nearly outside the Top 100, and has been outside the Top 30 for the most part since then. He has the unenviable task of facing Novak Djokovic in the next round.

“We're certainly on the up, in my opinion,” said Isner, who will face Australian qualifier Matthew Barton next. “And we have a lot of good, young talent as well, led by Taylor Fritz right now. I always tell American tennis fans to keep practicing patience, because it will come.”

Fritz, an 18-year-old, cracked the Top 100 this year and took a set off fourth seed Stan Wawrinka in the first round of Wimbledon. He’s up to No. 65, and close behind him are fellow youngsters Jared Donaldson, Frances Tiafoe, Noah Rubin, Stefan Kozlov and Tommy Paul.

“It’s a great thing for American tennis to have a bulk of guys doing well,” Sock said.

Sock beat Robin Haase in four sets on Thursday, and will square off against big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic in the third round.

“I was the teenager, at one point, trying to do well,” he said. “After these guys [like Fritz] there will be another wave as well. It’s just part of the game. There’s always going to be some guys doing well. It’s more motivation, I think, to try to stay in front of them.”

Sock has steadily risen up the rankings since cracking the Top 100 back in 2013. The youngest of the U.S. men in the third round, he’s had the most success of his countryman at Wimbledon. Teaming up with Vasek Pospisil in 2014, the duo beat Bob and Mike Bryan in the final to capture the men’s doubles title

Though he always insists that he’s a singles player first, the Nebraska native has done better in doubles, winning six doubles titles to just one singles title, in Houston in 2015.

“Looking forward more to Wimbledon now,” Sock said. “[Winning] doubles a few years ago was amazing. We had a great run. Singles hasn’t gone quite as well. Definitely looking forward to it more this year.”

If anyone knows what it’s like to be touted as the “next American champion” as a teenager, it’s Donald Young, and his advice to teenagers like Fritz is simple.

“It’s just, keep your head down, keep working hard,” he said. “Believe in the people you have on your team, in your support system, your base, and the people you want to help you get there … It’s just, keep improving. You never know it all. Just keep improving and learning.”

Young beat Leonardo Mayer on Thursday to reach the second round. The 26-year-old has been in and out of the spotlight since becoming the junior world champion back in 2005.

Pressure has followed Young his entire career—he turned pro in 2004 at just 15 years old)—but now, as he looks ahead to his next opponent, 32nd seed Lucas Pouille, he feels relaxed.

“All the pressure is off of me,” Young said. “He’s the seed. He’s the one expected to win. I’ll just go out and play my game and see what happens.”

Seeing what happens is what he’s been doing for a long time, and while he’s never quite broken through, seeing his compatriots succeed has motivated him.

“It’s great, we’re doing well,” Young said. “We’re all around the same age. It’s great [to] have peers. We‘re all playing well and working as hard as we can. So it’s great to see guys like [Johnson] and [Sock] and [Isner], and you have all the young guys coming up. So its an awesome time.”