“It’s my first time being in the second week here at the French, the only Slam where I hadn’t been in the second week yet. I couldn’t be more happy with doing that today.” A 22-year-old Ben Shelton was feeling proud after making it to the fourth round of the French Open. But guess what? He’s not the only American ATP pro who’s having a phenomenal campaign. Two other young faces also appear steady and solid. They have marched into the second week on the Parisian clay as well. Not to mention, their success has left a former American ATP icon “impressed” and hopeful for a promising outcome by the end of this week.

On Friday, this year’s Australian Open semifinalist Shelton proved his mettle on clay in Paris. He beat Italy’s 167-ranked Matteo Gigante in straight sets with a score line of 6-3, 6-3, 6-4. With the win, he entered the fourth round at the Roland Garros for the first time. Along with him, Frances Tiafoe is another American star who’s shining brightly on the Parisian clay. Besting his compatriot Sebastian Korda, he’s also made it to the R16 (fourth). Not to mention Tommy Paul, who ousted Russian pro Karen Khachanov, on Friday, to enter the second week of the slam. Last time when three American men made it to the R16 was in 1995. Back then, Andre Agassi, Michael Chang, and Jim Courier accomplished this feat at the Roland Garros.

The remarkable performance of the three Americans has swayed former World No.8 and ex-ATP pro John Isner. In an episode of the Nothing Major podcast, dated May 31, he expressed his honest take on Frances, Shelton, and Paul. “Very impressed.” Firstly throwing spotlight on Shelton, Isner said, “He’s done what he’s been asked to do, right? He took out Sonego which I thought was very-very tough first round match. Won in five sets, he’s had a pretty good draw since then with the walkover (Arthur Fils) and then a qualifier around 160. But look, he’s taking care of business. So far seems to be playing great.”

However, he was left speechless by Tiafoe’s run the most. Why? “I think for me the most impressive is Frances (Tiafoe), winning that match against Sebie (Sebastian Korda), who in my mind is extremely confident on clay and I had it wrong. I thought Sebie was going to win that match.”

Coming onto Tommy, he admired him saying that he’s “digging deep again, winning in five sets over Khachanov, just rock solid. I mean Tommy’s playing with a ton of confidence right now. I mean just, he’s obviously one of the best returners in the world, he can break serve at any point and either take control of the match or get back into a match. We saw him do that in the second round match against Fucsovics. He was sort of down and out there but he stays the course, just stays steady and solid out there.”

Concluding his remarks, Isner emphasized that these three are “playing great. Frances going forward has a pretty good draw. Ben’s draw finally is getting pretty tough as we know. He’s facing the defending champion next. But so impressive and it’s awesome to see those three guys still alive in the round of 16.” Akin to Isner’s thoughts, Tiafoe also believes that the American dream is thriving this time in Paris.

Frances Tiafoe is happy seeing Ben Shelton and Tommy Paul do well

Frances Tiafoe hadn’t been in his best form until he entered the Roland Garros last week. Contrary to early predictions, he’s managed to go deep, being in R16. After defeating compatriot Sebastian Korda in the third round, he emphasized on the collective efforts of American players at the French Open this season. Obviously he was referring to Tommy Paul and Ben Shelton, who are in R16 as well.

“I think we are all pushing each other and working hard,” Tiafoe said, as reported by ATP’s website on May 30. “There’s a window in the game, a lot of guys see a lot of opportunity and it helps when you see peers do well. It’s becoming a normality that we are going deep in Slams and having a look in, it’s not a surprise anymore.”

In a tense encounter, Tiafoe fought his way to victory against Korda. In the first set, the result came out in a tie-break where he won 7-6(6), followed by easy wins in next two sets. Eventually, he wrapped up the match with a score line of 7-6(6), 6-3, 6-4. Reflecting on his performance in general, he added, “I thought I played really solid,”

“I did a really good job in the first set. It was hard to lock in on his service games, it wasn’t easy to get in there, but I did a good job of hanging around. From the breaker on, I really stepped it up and played great today.” What are your thoughts on Shelton, Tiafoe, and Paul’s chances of winning the trophy in Paris? Let us know in the comments below.