American tennis player Taylor Fritz, 25, accomplished a feat that has not been done by an American man since Andy Roddick did it in 2009.
The top-ranked American man broke into the top five in the latest tennis rankings released on Monday, February 27, 2023.
Fritz is No. 5 for the first time and hopes to keep climbing his way to the top.
Taylor Fritz, who won ATP 250 Delray Beach on Sunday, will break into the Top 5 *next* Monday at #5.
Fritz will be the first American man in the ATP singles top five since Andy Roddick last departed that echelon September 2009.
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) February 20, 2023
American men have struggled in recent years.
There were consecutive generations of Grand Slam and dominant American champions dating back to John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors in the 1970s and 1980s, Pete Sampras, Jim Courier, Michael Chang, and Andre Agassi in the 1980s and 1990s, and Roddick in the 2000s.
It’s been a long decade and a half, but American men’s tennis is reemerging with young stars like Fritz and Francis Tiafoe.
They are eyeing the No. 1 ranking, but that continues to be locked up by Novak Djokovic who enjoys a new career-defining accomplishment this week.
What Djokovic Has Accomplished
And still he rises 💫
With 378 weeks at the top of the @PepperstoneFX ATP Rankings, Novak Djokovic has made history, breaking the ALL TIME tennis record for the longest spot at number one 🙌 🏆 pic.twitter.com/zil7BKkKB8
— ATP Tour (@atptour) February 27, 2023
Novak logs a mind-boggling 378th week as the World’s No. 1 male tennis player.
No player in tennis history has ever been the top seed for such a long span of time.
The closest is Steffi Graf who was the best woman’s player in the world for 377 weeks.
There seems no end in sight to Djokovic’s dominance.
The Top Seeds Could Collide Next Week At Indian Wells
Tennis’s unofficial fifth major starts on March 6, 2023, at Indian Wells.
The tournament has a variety of names including the BNP Paribas Open and the Indian Wells Masters.
Fritz is the defending champion, defeating Rafael Nadal in the 2022 final.
The Netflix documentary Break Point takes fans and viewers behind the scenes as Fritz captured the 2022 title at Indian Wells.
Djokovic, due to United States COVID-19 travel restrictions, could not play in the event last year.
Novak Djokovic just concluded a press conference and took a couple questions in English. Djokovic says Indian Wells wants him there and that the hopes he receives a positive update, but that the decision on if he can travel to the US in March is out of his hands.
— Jill Martin (@ByJillMartin) February 22, 2023
It remains to be seen if the restrictions will be lifted for him to play in 2023.
As of now, there has not been any indication that the restrictions will be lifted.
Rafael Nadal withdraws from exhibition with Carlos Alcaraz on March 5 in Las Vegas. Alcaraz will now face winner of match between Taylor Fritz & Frances Tiafoe. But have to think, if Nadal cannot play March 5, it is unlikely he'll be able to play a few days later in Indian Wells pic.twitter.com/nz603sDOYo
— Christopher Clarey 🇺🇸 🇫🇷 🇪🇸 (@christophclarey) February 17, 2023
Rafael Nadal’s participation in the tournament is also up in the air as he continues to withdraw from events as he recuperates from the hip injury sustained at the Australian Open.
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