NEW YORK :Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton got their U.S. Open campaigns off to a confident start on Sunday, cruising into the second round as they bid to end a 22-year title drought for American men in New York.
Fritz, who last year became the first American man since 2006 to reach the Flushing Meadows final, hit his stride after the first set on Louis Armstrong Stadium to subdue wildcard compatriot Emilio Nava 7-5 6-2 6-3, firing off 11 aces.
After his near miss last year, when he was runner-up to Jannik Sinner, Fritz is hoping he can follow in the footsteps of Madison Keys or Coco Gauff, who both claimed Grand Slam titles this year.
In fact, since Andy Roddick was the last home male player to lift the U.S. Open trophy in 2003, American women have collected 25 Grand Slam titles – with Venus and Serena Williams accounting for 19 of them.
“We’re in a great place in American tennis,” said Fritz, who will next play either Argentine Sebastian Baez or South African qualifier Lloyd Harris.
“The women have been really carrying for a long time but the men – we’re coming.”
Nava battled evenly with the fourth seed until the final game of the first set, where he dropped his serve with a pair of unforced errors, before helping Fritz to an early break in the second set with two double faults.
Fritz turned on the gas from there, breaking his opponent from the baseline to close out the second set, before getting the break in the third set with an unreturnable backhand in the fourth game.
“I really just settled into the match a bit more,” said Fritz. “The returns started working for me a bit more, loosened up.”
Shelton, semi-finalist at the hardcourt major in 2023, was brimming with confidence after earning his biggest title in Toronto this month. He produced 35 winners to beat Peruvian qualifier Ignacio Buse 6-3 6-2 6-4.
Shelton will next face the winner of the all-Spanish showdown between Pablo Carreno Busta and qualifier Pablo Llamas Ruiz. He will also get an extra day’s rest thanks to the extended 15-day schedule that the major adopted this year.
“Starting to feel like home for me. This is the best court in tennis,” said Shelton. “It’s my favourite place to play, favourite court, favourite tournament.”
The two were evenly matched through much of the first set before Buse dropped his serve with a double fault in the eighth game and Shelton successfully defended three break points in the ninth.
Shelton broke his opponent from the baseline in the fifth game of the second set and again in the seventh with one of his famously powerful forehand winners.
Buse helped Shelton on the way to another break in the third game of the final set with one of his six double faults in the match and the 22-year-old nodded with satisfaction as he clinched it on the fifth match point.
Shelton was less than a year old in 2003 when Roddick hoisted the U.S. Open trophy and along with Fritz has emerged as one of the brightest hopes for the home fans after his run to the semis two years ago.
“We take it one step at a time. Trying to get better every day,” said Shelton. “As soon as you start looking ahead of yourself you stumble over your feet.”
Fritz and Shelton arrived in Flushing with plenty of company from their compatriots, with 48 Americans – including 23 men – in the singles main draws, the most since 54 Americans entered in the COVID-dented 2020 tournament.
