sport news The future is BRIGHT as US tennis thrives at the Australian Open trends now
As Tommy Paul finished off Roberto Bautista Agut with a fortuitous net cord Monday, it marked the first time in 23 years that three American men - Paul, Ben Shelton and Sebastian Korda - reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open.
The last trio to do so were Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras and Chris Woodruff, now current head coach at the University of Tennessee.
American tennis has pulled itself out of the slumber that has set in since Andy Roddick's 2003 US Open win and the greatest barometer of success comes in the form of Monday's updated ATP rankings. They will show 10 American men inside the world's top 50.
The United States will occupy 20 per cent of the world's top 50. Big things are happening.
Ben Shelton (left) and Jessica Pegula (right) are among American stars shining in Australia
The 20-year-old only turned pro last year but is embarking on a fairytale run in Australia
It is important firstly to insist this is no fluke. Work has been put in for years at the United States Tennis Association (USTA) to improve the pathway and the quality of the programs youngsters are being nurtured in.
It should be qualified, too, that collegiate tennis is proving an incredibly useful pathway to the top for America's rising stars.
Ben Shelton, former NCAA champion at University of Florida, is the greatest example in Melbourne right now.
But Monday's ranking represent a clear shift in the renaissance of US tennis with nine of the 10 included aged 25 or under: Taylor Fritz (25), Frances Tiafoe (25), Korda (22), Paul, (25), Jenson Brooksby (22), John Isner (37), Shelton (20), J.J. Wolf (24), Reilly Opelka (24) and Brandon Nakashima (21).
On the women's side eight of the top 50 are from the United States.
Tommy Paul faces Shelton in an all-American quarter-final, the deepest he has gone in a Slam
Sebastian Korda (left) is ascending while Taylor Fritz (right) is the top-ranked American man
'These young guys are coming up, pushing each other,' Dean Goldfine, one of Shelton's coaches, told the New York Times.
'I think that's one of the things that's contributing to our success right now as a country.
'We have
