“Want nothing but the best for those guys” – How Fritz, Tiafoe and Paul push and inspire each other to success
All three won their third round matches at the US Open on Friday to reach the round of 16 as they aim to end a 20-year wait for an American man to triumph at Flushing Meadows
Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe and Tommy Paul at the 2023 Boss Open
The golden generation of American tennis – Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Jim Courier and Michael Chang – won a lot of Grand Slams. Their careers were also marked by an air of rivalry between the foursome – especially between Sampras and Agassi, the most successful of the quartet.
That aspect of rivalry has been replaced by an air of camaraderie and friendship between the current generation of top American players – world No 9 Taylor Fritz, world No 10 Frances Tiafoe and world no 14 Tommy Paul – all born within a span of eight months.
On Friday, all three won their third round matches at the US Open to move into the round of 16 as they aim to end a 20-year wait for an American man to triumph at their home Grand Slam. Tiafoe and Paul could face off in the quarter-finals while in the same section, Fritz is projected to meet Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals. And even as they move closer to potentially facing each other, the trio want nothing but the best for each other.
“The other American guys, those are, like, my closest friends,” Fritz, who meets Swiss qualifier Dominic Stricker in the last 16. “When any of us see the others having good results, it’s motivating. I think they’d all say the same thing. But it’s motivating. Because if one of us does something, the others not only want to do it, too, they now believe that they can also do it because we think we’re as good as each other. If he did this here, then why can’t I? I think it’s kind of this progression that we’ve had for a while now, why we’re at where we’re at. Someone achieves something big, then someone else comes and wants to match him or one-up him, and it’s the cycle that keeps going. We’re all such good friends, it’s motivating, for sure.”
Tiafoe, who was the first of the three to reach a Grand Slam semi-final at the US Open last year, echoed a similar sentiment. “I want nothing but the best for those guys. I want them to win and hope we can play against each other in big matches. That’s what it’s all about. Let the better man win,” he said. “I’m not one of those guys envious of anybody. You want those guys to do well. It’s only going to help me, right? So, yeah, I mean, everyone’s super excited for each other. Everyone’s pumped up. It’s great for American tennis ultimately at the end. It is what it is.”
Paul, the oldest of the trio and the one who took longest to hit the top 15, also agreed. “I think there is very healthy competition amongst all of us. I mean, in no way would I say jealousy between us, but we push each other with results or in practice. Like, we’ll practice with each other a ton and we’ll push each other through practice. It’s like inspiring to see people that we practice with every day, people that we feel like we all know that we can beat each other. And then when one of us does super well in a tournament it’s inspiring to us to go do it ourselves. I would say, yeah, we all push each other with results.”
For good measure, the trio have two more of their countrymen still alive in the men’s singles draw. 20-year-old Ben Shelton, earmarked as one of the most promising and exciting players in the game, is also through to the last 16 and is in the same half as Fritz, Tiafoe and Paul. The left-hander takes on Paul in the fourth round. Meanwhile, 25-year-old Michael Mmoh will hope to join his compatriots among the final 16 when he takes on Brit Jack Draper in the round of 32 on Saturday.
Whatever happens in New York over the next nine days, you can be rest assured that Fritz, Tiafoe and Paul will be cheering each other on for the years to come.
