3 best performing American tennis players at Wimbledon 2024 ft. Taylor Fritz
The 2024 Wimbledon Championships began on Monday, July 1, featuring 18 Americans in the women's singles draw and 11 in the men's. Coco Gauff led the women's pack as the second seed whereas Tommy Paul was the highest-seeded, 12, American on the men's side.
The London Major concluded on Sunday, July 14, with the second consecutive crowning of Spain's Carlos Alcaraz in the men's final, where he defeated Novak Djokovic 6-2, 6-2, 7-6(4). The previous day, Czech Republic's Barbora Krejcikova clinched the Venus Rosewater Dish in the women's singles event after beating seventh seed Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 in the final.
Along with Gauff, the likes of Jessica Pegula (5), Danielle Collins (11), Madison Keys (12), and Emma Navarro (19) took the field as the seeded ladies at Wimbledon.
The unseeded bunch included Sloane Stephens, Sofia Kenin, Lauren Davis, Caroline Dolehide, Ashlyn Krueger, Bernarda Pera, Taylor Townsend, Peyton Stearns, Emina Bektas, Katie Volynets, Mccartney Kessler, Alycia Parks, and Robin Montgomery.
On the ATP end of things, Paul was accompanied by Taylor Fritz (13), Ben Shelton (14), Sebastian Korda (20), and Frances Tiafoe (29), among the seeds. The unseeded American gentlemen included Christopher Eubanks, Marcos Giron, Alex Michelsen, Brandon Nakashima, Mackenzie McDonald, and Aleksander Kovacevic.
Paolini and Alcaraz's triumphs meant that Serena Williams remained the only player from the USA to hold the women's singles championships since 2016 and Pete Sampras to lay hands on the men's title since 2000 at Wimbledon.
Of the 29 Americans competing in both the singles draw, only seven, including Gauff, Collins, Keys, Navarro, Paul, Fritz, and Shelton, made it to the second week of the tournament. Let's have a look at the top three performers from these seven.
#1 Emma Navarro (QFs): Eliminated Coco Gauff in Wimbledon 4R
Emma Navarro started her career's second campaign at the Championships on the inaugural day with a thumping win over China's Wang Qiang. She defeated the Chinese 6-0, 6-2 on the back of five break points.
Navarro met former World No. 1 Naomi Osaka in the second round and came out on top with a comfortable 6-4, 6-1 victory. She broke Osaka's serve four times and won a total of 55 points in the match.
She dropped her first set of the tournament against Diana Shnaider in the third round but recovered in time to complete a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 comeback. In the fourth round, she upset compatriot Coco Gauff in straight sets. The 23-year-old converted three break points to beat the second seed 6-4, 6-3.
Navarro's Wimbledon campaign concluded in the quarterfinals with a crushing defeat at the hands of eventual finalist Jasmine Paolini, who broke her five times to close the match at 6-2, 6-1. This was the American's best finish in London as her 2023 showing ended in the first round itself.
#2 Tommy Paul (QFs): Lost to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz
Tommy Paul, the top-seeded American at Wimbledon, prevailed over Spain's Pedro Martinez in the first round, securing an impressive 6-2, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 win. He found himself engaged in a five-setter against unseeded Otto Virtanen in the second round but eventually came through 4-6, 6-3, 5-7, 7-5, 6-4.
Paul then registered straight-set successes over Alexander Bublik and Roberto Bautista Agut in the third and fourth rounds. He bettered Bublik 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 on the back of four break points and downed Bautista Agut 6-2, 7-6(4), 6-2 with five break point conversions.
The 12th seed met Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals and started on a positive note by taking the opening set. However, the eventual champion found his feet and kept Paul at bay for the next three sets to win 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.
Notably, this was Tommy Paul's best performance at Wimbledon. as he could only reach the fourth and third rounds in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
#3 Taylor Fritz (QFs): Beat Alexander Zverev in 4R
Taylor Fritz made his Wimbledon main draw debut in the year 2016, hence, campaigned at the Grasscourt Major eighth time. He opened with a 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 win over Australia's Christopher O'Connell in the first round.
The second round saw Fritz see France's Arthur Rinderknech off in a tightly fought contest. He cruised to a two-set lead but Rinderknech staged a fight back and took the third. The 13th seed, however, stood his ground to take the fourth and secure a 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 win.
In the third match, he overcame 24th seed Alejandro Tabilo in straight sets. He smashed a staggering 20 aces and broke Tabilo's serve twice to close the proceedings at 7-6(3), 6-3, 7-5.
Fritz produced a remarkable comeback victory against fourth seed Alexander Zverev in the fourth round. Playing on Wimbledon's Centre Court, he fell short in the first and second sets but secured the next three to show Zverev the door. The two played for a total of 298 points out of which 157 went the American's way in the 4-6, 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(3), 6-3 win.
Fritz fought hard in another five-setter against Lorenzo Musetti in the quarterfinals but couldn't cross the finish line before the Italian did. He broke Musetti's serve four times during the match but the latter converted six break points to win the rollercoaster of a match 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.