Running tennis thread for 2023

Looking at what the ATP rankings will be next week, when was the last time the US had 10 guys in the top 50?

 

They're becoming very deep, but don't see many (any?) Grand Slam trophies anytime soon.

 

Maybe Shelton will become The Guy, but that’s a really big maybe. Other than that I don’t see any candidates. I guess Tiafoe could be one, but I’m not convinced his ceiling is major champion high (though maybe I should be after his U.S. Open run).

 

Shelton, Paul, Wolf, Korda, Tiafoe ... all strong enough... brightest outlook for US men in a LONG time

 

I could've sworn I saw this figure tweeted officially by someone but I think it was in the early 90s.

Thanks to the Internet, I can tell you that the week after Wimbledon in 1992, the following American men were in the top 50:
1. Courier, 3. Sampras, 6. Chang, 8. Lendl, 9. Agassi (who had just won), 13. Washington, 20. McEnroe, 26. Gilbert, 28. Krickstein, 44. Wheaton, 45. Tarango.

 

Shelton is going to be pushed more than all the others combined. I thought the announcers were going to come down and suck him off while he was playing Wolf. I was embarrassed for them.

 

Max Cressy having a nice week in the South of France. He's in the final in both singles and doubles. Beat world No. 9 Holger Rune to reach the singles final against Sinner.

 

You left out the highest-ranked American man -- No. 8 Taylor Fritz.

 

DANIIL MEDVEDEV SIGHTING!

Medvedev took out Auger-Aliassime and Dmitrov to get to the final in Rotterdam, then beat Sinner for his first tournament win of the year. Is the former No. 1 getting his mojo back?

Meanwhile, Alcaraz is back. After missing the Australian Open with an injury, he cruised to the championship of the Argentina Open. And Taylor Fritz picked up a tournament title in Delray Beach.

 

Update: Medvedev apparently does have his hardcourt mojo back. He has now won back-to-back tournaments and has reached the semis in his quest for three in a row. He's 16-2 in matches for the year. He'll play Djokovic, who's back where he belongs at No. 1, in the Dubai semis. Should be a fun one.

The other semifinal -- Zverev vs. Rublev -- should be good, too.

 

I've caught some snippets and Rublev hits the ball a ton and is tough, when he's on.

Djoker has such an economy of effort in his swing and hits the ball so clean, he's definitely back to his greatness.

 

Medvedev takes out Djoker 6-4, 6-4. I didn’t watch the match (because YouTube TV doesn’t carry The Tennis Channel anymore), but the numbers show some high-level tennis. In 20 games, Medvedev had just seven unforced errors, compared to 27 winners and eight aces. In the second set he had one (1) unforced error against 14 winners.

He’ll face Rublev in a battle of men without a country (according to ATP) as he goes for his third tournament title in as many starts.