(July 1, 2022) Eight American men reached the third round at Wimbledon this fortnight, the most to reach this stage at a major tournament since the 1996 US Open.
Twenty-four-year-old Frances Tiafoe reached the round of 16 at Wimbledon for the first time with a 3-6, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (3), 6-4 win over Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan.
The American, seeded No. 23 is playing in his fifth Wimbledon.
Joining Tiafoe in the fourth round is Tommy Paul. Paul, the 30th seed stopped Jiri Vesely 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 to reach his first-ever round of 16 at a major and his main draw debut at the All England Club.
Tiafoe, was asked about how well the American men have been doing this Wimbledon, he said: “We are damn good.”
“We’re playing great tennis. I think we always feed off each other. We all believe it, all believe we can be even doing better than what we are doing currently. One guy does well, the next guy wants to step up. It’s all good. I think we’ve just got to keep going.”
Two other Americans who played on Friday lost their bid to join Tiafoe and Paul – John Isner, the new all-time ace king and Steve Johnson both fell. Isner hit ace No. 13,729 to break the ATP tour record held by Ivo Karlovic of Croatia.
Four more American men compete on Saturday with No. 11 seed Taylor Fritz, 29th seed Jenson Brooksby, Brandon Nakashima and Jack Sock.
Three U.S. women remain in the draw – No. 8 Jessica Pegula, No. 11 Coco Gauff and Amanda Anisimova.
It was business as usual today for the top men’s seed as Novak Djokovic, the three-time defending champion dismissed Serbian countryman Miomir Kecmanovic 6-0, 6-3, 6-4 in the third round. No. 5 Carlos Alcaraz routed Oscar Otte 6-3, 6-1, 6-2.
In women’s action, four seeds lost – No. 5 Maria Sakkari, No 15, former champion Angelique Kerber, No. 28 Alison Riske and No. 33 Shuai Zhang.
No. 3 seed Ons Jabeur made quick work of Diane Parry 6-2, 6-3.
Playing in her 12th Wimbledon, Brit Heather Watson, 30 advanced to her first round of 16 at a major when she beat Kaja Juvan 7-6, 6-2.
In the mixed doubles, Venus Williams paired with Jamie Murray to win their first round match.
