{"id":104700,"date":"2025-08-23T17:03:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-23T17:03:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/104700\/"},"modified":"2025-08-23T17:03:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T17:03:07","slug":"who-will-break-22-year-drought-in-u-s-mens-tennis-plus-football-returns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/104700\/","title":{"rendered":"Who will break 22-year drought in U.S. men\u2019s tennis? Plus football returns"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pulse Newsletter \ud83d\udce3 | This is The Athletic\u2019s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here<\/a> to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox.<\/p>\n

Good morning! The wait for real football is over.<\/p>\n

US Open: When will an American man win a Slam?<\/p>\n

With the US Open soon to be underway at Flushing Meadows, let\u2019s remember the fleeting promise of last year\u2019s tournament for American players.<\/p>\n

No American man had won a Grand Slam since Andy Roddick at the same event in 2003, and American women had only won three since Serena Williams\u2019 23rd and final in 2017. Yet one men\u2019s semifinal featured two Americans, Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe. Both women\u2019s semis had an American, with Jessica Pegula in one and Emma Navarro the other.\u00a0But in the end, the Stars and Stripes got nothing.\u00a0Jannik Sinner\u00a0dismantled Fritz<\/a>\u00a0in straight sets in the men\u2019s final, and Aryna Sabalenka did the same to Pegula in the women\u2019s.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s Slam season has been a breakthrough for American women.\u00a0Madison Keys was the surprising winner of the Australian Open to start the year, and 2023 US Open winner Coco Gauff got her second Slam at the French Open. Plus, Amanda Anisimova reached the final at Wimbledon before taking\u00a0a historically lopsided loss<\/a>\u00a0to Iga \u015awi\u0105tek. The U.S. women are \ud83d\udcc8.<\/p>\n

The men, though? It\u2019s been a\u00a022-year Grand Slam drought<\/a>. We are living in a Jannik Sinner-Carlos Alcaraz world,\u00a0and the best U.S. players of the moment haven\u2019t been able to disrupt it.<\/p>\n

Fritz (the world No. 4) beat Sinner in 2021, but he\u2019s lost four straight matches to the Italian, winning just one set. Fritz pushed Alcaraz at Wimbledon, but he\u2019s 0-3 against him. Fritz is also 27, compared to Sinner at 24 and Alcaraz at 22.<\/p>\n

Ben Shelton (the world No. 6) made Alcaraz sweat at Roland Garros before falling in four sets and moving to 0-3 against the Spaniard. Like Fritz, he beat Sinner once, but Sinner has since reeled off six in a row against him \u2014 every time in straight sets. At least Shelton is 22, giving him age parity with the top two.<\/p>\n

So, how long might that take?\u00a0I, Alex, forced a handful of\u00a0The Athletic\u00a0tennis buffs to\u00a0take a stab at when an American man will next win a Slam \u2014 and who it will be:<\/p>\n

Matthew Futterman<\/a>: \u201cBen Shelton, sometime between now and the end of 2027. He\u2019s getting better by leaps and bounds every few months. I don\u2019t think even he knows where his ceiling is at the moment.\u201d
\nCharlie Eccleshare<\/a>:\u00a0\u201cBen Shelton, 2028. This is such a tough question, but Shelton will be in his mid-20s, often peak age for a tennis player, and surely, surely, Sinner and Alcaraz won\u2019t be quite so dominant by then.\u201d
\nSam Settleman<\/a>:\u00a0\u201cSomeone you haven\u2019t heard of yet, in some distant future.\u00a0Shelton certainly looks poised to take his game to the next level and compete for Grand Slams. But we\u2019ve been saying the same thing about Alexander Zverev for years, and he may never win a Slam at this rate. As long as Alcaraz and Sinner are around, it would take a couple lucky bounces for Shelton \u2014 or any American \u2014 to break through.\u201d<\/p>\n

Our tennis desk is cooking this month.\u00a0Bookmark here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

News to Know<\/p>\n

Commanders deal Robinson to Niners<\/p>\n

The Commanders traded running back Brian Robinson Jr. to the 49ers for a sixth-round pick yesterday. Robinson was the presumed starter in Washington, but the Commanders have a pair of young backs who have impressed in the preseason. On the other side of the deal, Robinson could be\u00a0the perfect complement<\/a>\u00a0to Christian McCaffrey and Isaac Guerendo in one of the deeper running back rooms in the NFL. Of course, there are\u00a0fantasy implications here<\/a>\u00a0too. \ud83d\udc40<\/p>\n

Beasley cleared in gambling probe<\/p>\n

NBA<\/a> player Malik Beasley is no longer the target of a Department of Justice investigation into sports gambling by players, his lawyer told\u00a0The Athletic. The Pistons offered Beasley a three-year, $42 million contract before retracting the offer when the team was notified of the investigation. Beasley, who ranked second in the NBA in 3-pointers made last season, could now be back on the market.\u00a0Read the full report<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More news:<\/p>\n

Watch Guide<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa\u00a0EPL<\/a>: Manchester City vs. Spurs\u00a0<\/p>\n

7:30 a.m. ET on USA\u00a0<\/p>\n

Both clubs won to open the Premier League season last week. The vibes are, for the moment, good: City rank last (which is like first) in\u00a0our Premier League panic ranking<\/a>, and Tottenham looked solid in dispatching Burnley.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa\u00a0CFB: No. 22 Iowa State vs. No. 17 Kansas State\u00a0<\/p>\n

12 p.m. ET on ESPN\u00a0<\/p>\n

Farmageddon, live from Dublin to kick off college football\u2019s Week 0. Either of these teams could wind up with the Big 12\u2019s automatic playoff bid. Both QBs (Rocco Becht for ISU, Avery Johnson for K-State) are fun. We are so back.\u00a0Subscribe to our CFB newsletter<\/a>\u00a0for much more.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa\u00a0NFL<\/a>: Browns vs. Rams<\/p>\n

1 p.m. ET on NFL Network\u00a0<\/p>\n

The final week of NFL preseason rarely provides much intrigue, but the Browns are\u00a0expected to play<\/a>\u00a0Joe Flacco, Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders in this one. This QB room\u00a0still makes no sense<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pulse Picks<\/p>\n

Lee Corso retires from television and \u201cCollege GameDay\u201d a week from today. His co-workers, past and present, recently\u00a0shared their favorite stories<\/a>\u00a0about the \u201cGrandfather of College Football.\u201d<\/p>\n

The US Open draw is out, which means Honey Deuces are in. I\u2019ve made these cocktails during each of the past three tournaments, and they\u2019re always a hit.\u00a0We have the drink\u2019s lore<\/a>.\u00a0New York Times Cooking has the recipe<\/a>.\u00a0Wirecutter has the melon baller guide<\/a>. Cheers! \u2014 Alex Iniguez<\/p>\n

Tom Junod, one of the great profile writers of any era, delivers an emotionally charged tale<\/a>\u00a0of two high school football players, playing 50 years apart, and the tragic bond that ties them together. It\u2019s an incredible read. \u2014 Richard Deitsch<\/p>\n

Justify it however you want \u2014 \u201cBig run tomorrow!\u201d \u2014 but it\u2019s the rules to steal a box of your kids\u2019 powdered mac and cheese monthly. Annie\u2019s Super Mac is delicious. (Yes,\u00a0we\u2019re all slaves<\/a>\u00a0to the protein industrial complex.) \u2014 Chris Sprow<\/p>\n

The Athletic\u2019s\u00a0weekly sports news quiz<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pips<\/a>\u00a0has immediately joined my morning games routine. I enjoy chasing a new PR on the \u201chard\u201d mode every day. \u2014 Mark Cooper<\/p>\n

I finally got around to watching\u00a0\u201cThe Residence\u201d on Netflix<\/a>. Delightful! A smart, quippy, lavishly produced murder mystery \u2014 with a murderer\u2019s row of lead actors \u2014 that isn\u2019t afraid to just do its classic Agatha-Christie thing. Uzo Aduba got an Emmy nomination for her performance. Deserved! \u2014 Hannah Vanbiber<\/p>\n

Jason Jones highlights a special Florida Little League team from 45 years ago\u00a0in this fun piece<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I read\u00a0this recommendation<\/a>\u00a0from The New York Times about the Bloomberg podcast \u201cOdd Lots\u201d and have been listening ever since. It\u2019s delightful, though it might bore you if you\u2019re under 35. \u2014 Chris Branch<\/p>\n

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Our\u00a0fantasy football basics for beginners<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Most-read on the website yesterday: \u201cNuno\u2019s row with Edu<\/a>\u00a0at the heart of his Nottingham Forest unhappiness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ticketing links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.<\/p>\n

(Top photo: Matthew Stockman \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pulse Newsletter \ud83d\udce3 | This is The Athletic\u2019s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":104701,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[99,428],"class_list":{"0":"post-104700","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-sports","9":"tag-tennis"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104700"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104700\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}