What an extraordinary year this has been for American women’s tennis! It all started with Madison Keys’ incredible title triumph at the Australian Open. Then, a few months later, we saw Coco Gauff becoming the first American woman to win the French Open title since Serena Williams (in 2015). Recently, 23-year-old Amanda Anisimova came inches closer to clinching her first major title at Wimbledon, but Iga Swiatek shattered those dreams. There have been four different American women as finalists in the last four Slams. Why do American men pale in comparison to the women?

Other than the Grand Slams, a look at the other tournaments reveals players like Jessica Pegula, McCartney Kessler, Emma Navarro, and even Amanda Anisimova stumbling upon success this year. But there have been very few American men who have been triumphant on the tour in recent times. Andy Roddick (2003) was the last American man to win a major title in the men’s singles. Take a look at the current rankings; only two men, Taylor Fritz (4) and Ben Shelton (9), are among the Top 10. Whereas, on the women’s side, the number is double!

The world number 2, Coco Gauff, is leading the pack, and she’s followed by Jessica Pegula (4), Amanda Anisimova (7), and Madison Keys (8). What does the 20-year-old American rising star, Alex Michelsen, have to say about women’s tennis flying so high in his country? Well, in an Exclusive conversation with EssentiallySports, he said, “I don’t know, I feel like us men need to like figure out because they’re winning slams and we’re not. So, we American men need to ask them for some tips. But yeah, I mean Coco’s playing well, Pegula’s playing well. I mean, we’ve got so many men and women in the Top 100. I think American tennis is in a really good spot right now. And hopefully one of us men can get over the line.“

Alex Michelsen, currently ranked 30th in the world, has already established himself as one of the promising stars in the tennis world. Earlier this year, he even made it to the fourth round of the AO. Speaking more about American tennis being in safer hands, he added, “I’d be happy to see any of the Americans get over the line. That would be great for tennis in our country. And yeah, I mean, I think you know the women, especially Coco (Gauff) is helping out a lot with tennis in America. So, super happy with where the game’s at in our country right now.”

Will Michelsen be the solution to the year-long problem of American men’s tennis? Well, in that same conversation, he reflected on his intention to take it a bit slower. Michelsen cited his age-being just 20 years old, he believes that he has more time than the likes of other players like Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, and even Frances Tiafoe. He knows it will always be a very tough competition with the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner already establishing their dominance in men’s tennis, but he hopes someone among them will get it done at some point in time.

However, Michelsen isn’t the only American man who has heaped praise on the emergence of American women in tennis. Even Taylor Fritz had previously admitted that he thinks women have been doing an incredible job for a long time, and he feels that it’s now high time for the men to step on it little bit. “Honestly, I think it’s going to take one of us winning a slam to really get that spike of, you know, young fans on the men’s side of things,” said Fritz. 

Earlier this year, at the United Cup, he even stated that it was Coco Gauff who had in fact “carried“ the torch and Team USA to victory. So far, Gauff’s season has been full of highs and lows this year. Although she won the title at Roland Garros, she made an early exit from Wimbledon. What did she say after missing out on the chance at Wimbledon, though?

Coco Gauff wants to look ahead, not behind

After winning the French Open title this year, Coco Gauff shared a tweet where she spoke about how hard she has worked over the years to witness this moment. “I’m still in shock, honestly can’t find the words, but all I can say for now is just thank you and never give up on your dreams,” she added in her tweet.

Following that victory, Coco Gauff was asked to draw a comparison with her two major triumphs. Replying to that in an interview with the US Open, she said that she had more conviction this time at the French Open, but during the US Open (2023), it was more like, “Let’s just see what’s going to happen.” 

After witnessing her incredible run at Roland Garros, everyone expected her to follow it up with a similar run at Wimbledon. But unfortunately for the American, she went down to Dayana Yastremska in the first round by 6(3)-7,1-6. Following that defeat, she said, “I feel like I could have been a little bit better in those tough tiebreaker moments, especially after Roland-Garros, where I feel like I learned a lot in those tiebreakers. So obviously, I’m not going to dwell on this too long because I want to do well at the U.S. Open. And maybe losing here first round isn’t the worst thing in the world because I have some time to reset. But it definitely sucks.“

Last year, Coco Gauff failed to defend her crown at NY as she went down to Emma Navarro in the R16 by 3-6,6-4,3-6. How deep do you think she can make a run at the US Open this year? This would be the first time that she would be entering the US Open after winning a Grand Slam in the same season.