At the just-completed New York Open, second-seeded Frances Tiafoe—competing in his first event since his breakthrough Australian Open run—fell in his first match. His compatriot Reilly Opelka would go on to have a watershed moment of his own by winning the title, the first of his career to crack the world’s Top 60.
There’s no doubt Tiafoe and Opelka, along with Taylor Fritz, represent the future of American tennis with their noteworthy performances taking them to career highs in the rankings at this point.
But as the ATP tour continues to roll on, pushing even further past where they are now will only get tougher.
This week, all three of them will be competing at the Delray Beach Open, where Tiafoe is the defending champion. Last year, Tiafoe defeated Juan del Potro—world No. 10 at the time—in the quarterfinals for the biggest win of his career, en route to capping off the week by claiming his first career singles title.
Seeded third this year, Tiafoe will take on Dan Evans, an always-dangerous player who came through qualifying, in the first round.
Evans, with two matches already under his belt, is a perfect representation of the tests that Tiafoe, Fritz and Opelka will be facing going forward: a highly skilled veteran that is eager to hold off their progress—and is capable of doing it, too.
That upcoming contest is also an opportunity for Tiafoe to work his way into the tournament and establish how he handles the pressure of being a defending champion for the first time. Last week in New York marked another brand-new experience for Tiafoe, being the second seed at an ATP tournament, but Jason Jung—ranked more than a 100 places below him—stopped his campaign before it could start.
Did the pressure of coming in as a favorite for first place play a part? At the Australian Open, where he was unseeded, Tiafoe beat top-five-caliber players Kevin Anderson and Grigor Dimitrov, solidifying his status as a future contender for Grand Slam titles. Going into a smaller event now, Tiafoe will be expected to play extremely well. But the target on his back has gotten increasingly larger.
As he enters the next phase in his development, he’ll have company in Fritz and Opelka. In 2016, Fritz made his first statement in the game when he reached the final in Memphis, becoming the youngest American to advance to an ATP tour championship match in nearly 20 years. He finished that year in the Top 100, but fell out a year later as a knee injury took its toll. Last year was the start of his comeback campaign, which has continued into 2019 as he’s reached a personal best in the rankings. After making it to the third round of a major for the first time at the Australian Open, the Californian defended his Challenger title in Newport Beach.
Opelka also had a strong 2018 that he’s parlayed into an impressive showing so far this year. Winning three Challenger titles last year, which helped him crack the Top 100, Opelka is going into Delray Beach with momentum on his side, having just won the New York Open for his first ATP triumph.
While he’s known for his massive serve, there’s no discounting his ability to come through in high-pressure situations: In the semifinals in New York, he fought off six match points against top seed John Isner and in the final against Brayden Schnur, he was forced to shrug off his own lost match points to clinch the title in a third-set tiebreak.
Now ranked in the Top 60, Opelka is well positioned to rise even higher, as are Tiafoe and Fritz from their respective spots. How they handle the expectations from the outside—and within—will be key in determining just how far they can go.
