There are a record 34 Americans in the draw at this year's Wimbledon, the most in more than 20 years. That includes 10 direct entries and three qualifiers in the men's draw, and according to retired ATP player Michael Russell, now coaching Taylor Fritz part-time through the USTA, the conditions could help them even more.
When Russell started playing on tour he liked hardcourts and eventually clay too. But grass took a while, especially the soft, slippery grass of the 1990s at Wimbledon.
"I actually grew to really like playing on the grass courts through the second half of my career as I would get a lot more free points on my serve, I could play aggressive taking the ball early and I always enjoyed the challenge of returning on the grass. The grass has changed a lot over the past 20 years," Russell told Tennis.com in an interview by email. "It used to be much faster and baseline rallies were a rare sight. Now not many players play serve-and-volley, and you can see the wear of the grass on the court is predominantly behind the baseline."
That has also changed the way players play on it, adds Russell, who got as high as the top 60 in the rankings. No American men since Pete Sampras in 2000 have won the title at Wimbledon, and in recent years Europeans like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray have dominated.
"The grass has definitely become slower over the years which is conducive to a lot more baseline play. Also, the players are returning really well, which puts a lot of pressure on the server if they are serving and volleying and don’t hit their spots on the serve,” Russell said. "There also aren’t a lot of true serve-and-volley players anymore. Roger [Federer] and Feliciano Lopez will serve and volley on most of their first serves, but they have the ability to stay back if necessary. The athleticism and ball striking ability of the [Big Four] guys is incredible as they really have little or no weaknesses."
But with a combination of serving prowess and baseline strength, the American men could once again start enjoying success on the lawns of SW19.
Long the No. 1-ranked American on the ATP Tour, huge-serving John Isner is down to No.33 in the rankings but still a threat, notes Russell.
"John is such a dangerous player and with his serve and forehand combination he can take the racquet off of your hand -- sometimes literally," said Russell. "He gets so many free points on his serve, so it puts an enormous amount of pressure on the sever because a break point is virtually a set point. “John hasn’t played as many events this past 18 months [but] he is definitely very motivated and playing well."
A 2018 semifinalist, Isner lost to Kevin Anderson 26-24 in the fifth set after 6 hours, 36 minutes.
Though there are currently no Americans in the Top 30, there are a group of younger players and veterans on the cusp of upward moves.
"The US has a lot of good young players continuing to rise in the rankings such as [Reilly] Opelka, [Taylor] Fritz, [Sebastian] Korda, [Frances] Tiafoe, [Brandon] Nakashima and there are also guys like Isner, [Sam] Querrey, [Steve] Johnson and [Tennys] Sandgren, who are a little bit older and have had good results in some big tournaments," said Russell, adding that it was possible to have "an American man or more in the second week of the Championships.”
The coach provides a breakdown of some of the top young American contenders in the filed.
