‘One of us can’ – Wimbledon heroics see Frances Tiafoe predict US male Slam triumph in near future
Tiafoe avenged his Eastbourne loss to Alexander Bublik on Friday to go a step beyond where he has ever been before at Wimbledon.
The world number 28 downed the Kazakhstani 3-6, 7-6 (7-1), 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 to see himself into the second week of the grass Slam for the first time in his career.
That achievement leaves Roland Garros as the only Major where he is yet to achieve the same feat.
Eight American men made it into the third round at Wimbledon this week, making up a quarter of the remaining draw entering play on Friday.
When asked about the talented crop, Tiafoe said: “I thought this was going to be a good group for a long time.
“I mean even when we were in the juniors.
“Fritz, Tommy [Paul], Reilly [Opelka], they all won junior Slams.
“Just good blood.”
That trio all won their junior Slams back in 2015.
Paul won Roland Garros, Opelka won Wimbledon, while Fritz won the US Open.
Paul has already joined Tiafoe in the last 16, while Opelka is out and Fritz is yet to play his third round.
Tiafoe revealed that there is no envy between the Americans, with the group instead feeding off each other’s success.
He said: “We definitely want to see each other do well.
“There’s no jealousy.”
Finally, American tennis fans have been waiting for a male singles Slam champion for approaching 20 years now, the last coming for Andy Roddick at the 2003 US Open.
On that point, Tiafoe explained: “Hopefully it happens in my career, or one of [ours], or the era after us.
“Not many guys are winning Slams outside of the Big Three [or Four].
“So I don’t think it’s an American problem, it’s just a Big Four problem.
“A lot of big players in that era didn’t win a Slam, it didn’t matter what the flag looked like.
“But talking about defining success, I think one of us can.
“Whether it’s me, Fritz, Tommy [Paul], Reilly [Opelka], we’ll see.
‘I mean, I’m in the fourth round [here].
“We’ll see.”
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