John McEnroe predicts an American Grand Slam winner in near future
ATPTuesday, 14 February 2023 at 02:00
Updated at Tuesday, 12 August 2025 at 10:46
Tennis is experiencing a baby boom of young players breaking out on the ATP Tour at a similar time, and John McEnroe is excited about it.
The former American ATP player has talked about the need for some fresh talent a couple of times in the past, and he's glad that the United States is leading the wave in some ways.
He believes the country will finally get a male Grand Slam winner in the near future as he discussed the rise of the US tennis recently during a Eurosport and Discovery+ event.
"I think at this time these players have been pushing each other and that is a good thing. They have spent a lot of time together, growing up as juniors like Tommy Paul, Frances Tiafoe, Taylor Fritz and I think they become better players because of it. [Reilly] Opelka he is another guy you wouldn’t want to play."
McEnroe has many players that he likes, but Sebastian Korda seems to him like the player with the biggest upside at the moment. He also mentioned others like Ben Shelton, Jenson Brooksby, and Tommy Paul.
"I would say Korda to me has the biggest upside at the moment. I think Ben Shelton, I haven’t seen much of him, but this guy has some serious game and he is really a breath of fresh air."
"Paul was someone who came onto the scene and a lot of ability, but perhaps wasn’t prepared to do what it takes to get himself to that level of fitness and mental strength that you need, but now he has and you see how good he is."
A bit older than those players are Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe, two players who have played on the ATP Tour for a couple of years but are only now starting to find their proper footing.
"Taylor Fritz is the highest-ranked of all, he hits an incredible ball and he’s had some disappointing Grand Slam results the last couple of events, but to me he is a consistent top 10 player. I’m not sure I put him at the top as the highest upside, but he is certainly a great player."
"Tiafoe I would put close to the top in terms of upsides because athletically he could be even the best of them all, but mentally he is getting stronger, disappointing result at the Australian Open."
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