Great Question.
1. Taylor Fritz. 1st American in 15+ years to win a masters 1000 when he won Indian Wells in 2022. Been a top 10 player for over a year now with a career high #5.
2. Frances Tiafoe. Tiafoe has been one of my favorite players since 2018. When he won his 1st title I remember betting him every match as an underdog and I followed him all the way to the title. Was a great week for me and I've been a fan of his ever since. He finally got his 2nd title a couple months ago on 250 level Clay and now he's in finals tomorrow for 250 level grass tournament. So Tiafoe could have 3 titles with 1 per surface.
My long term problem with Tiafoe, is he is a guy who underperforms on smaller tournaments in R1-R2 but gets better as the week goes on. He loves stepping up on big stages on big courts. If it's a grand slam and he's on a main court, he loves the crowd support and he fuels from that. 1 semi final of a grand slam and 1 QF I believe, maybe 2 QF. He could be top 10 if he wins title tomorrow.
Tommy Paul
Seb Korda
Ben Shelton
Maxime Cressy
JJ Wolf
Brandon Nakashima
Marcos Giron
Mackenzie McDonald
Chris Eubanks
Jenson Brooksby
John Isner
In order those are all the US players ranked in top 100. Technically Isner is ranked #101 for 1st time in like 15+ years. Ranking some of these guys is tough. But after Fritz/Tiafoe, those are clearly 1-2 then everyone else.
3. Seb Korda has had a tough season with injuries. He upset Medvedev in the Aussie open which clearly triggered Medvedev when he went crazy post Aussie open winning every title. I think Korda has great potential which again we saw in Australia where he made it to the QF before having to retire with injury which then has caused him to only play 4 matches since then going 1-3 in those matches. Long term though, Korda when healthy I think will contend to be a top 15 player.
ughhh, I honestly want to rank Isner #4 but i know he is about to retire and he's not playing a full schedule, but he is honestly the next best overall. But he's not long term for US Tennis. But he has had a hell of a career.
4. I guess I will rank Ben Shelton #4, but I don't love him. Shelton by journalist is the next big thing for US tennis. He came out of nowhere in the Australian Open to make the QF which is why he is ranked 35th in the world. He 100% has a bright future and potential. Big server, has shot making ability, very quick on his feet. Shelton went 2-7 on clay court and hasn't played grass yet. He is a hard court guy, he's only 20 years old. before Australia he had never even left the country.
He clearly has hard court ability.
5. Tommy Paul.
