Frances Tiafoe, a 19-year-old American who has flashy speed and an enviable ability to hit offensive shots from defensive positions, was down 5-3 in the fifth on his home country’s biggest stage, Arthur Ashe Stadium. On the other side? Roger Federer, perhaps the greatest to ever play the game.
The world – the many who remained engrossed in a match that endured long past midnight – saw a youngster on the verge of having a chance to do what seemed like the impossible against the perennial great: beat him in the first round of the US Open. Those who have helped shepherd Tiafoe, still just 19 years old, also saw something else: the years of training and support that helped put him there, the sacrifices for his Maryland family and the system that allowed him to prosper.
“It's a validation of what he's been able to overcome, what the program at College Park (Maryland) has done, but also an example of us playing the right role,” said Martin Blackman, the general manager of USTA player development efforts at a press conference earlier this week. “Staying in our lane but giving him the support that he needs.”
While Americans such as the older and more accomplished John Isner and Jack Sock can hardly be called old school, Tiafoe represents the future in more ways than one. Their big-serve, big-forehand styles are still the most important features of the men’s game, but the USTA knows that the athleticism and skills of players today can extend rallies and force those who like short points into longer battles. Dominant servers may have had an easier time on the slick grass at Wimbledon 20 years ago, for example, but the surfaces are more homogenous these days, Blackman points out. No longer are there highly successful surface specialists – and the exceptional depth in both the men’s and women’s game means a Top 10 player needs to be able to do it all.
“I think it’s been great for TV, it’s been great for the game,” Blackman said of the surface change. “A large percentage of points are [still] won within the first four shots of the point. At the same time you have to be able to defend.”
Blackman is attempting the same type of balancing act in implementing a national system to find and train the best talent. Things are going well. The draw for the 2017 US Open had 42 U.S. players filling the draw – the most of any nation and the most for the country at a US Open since 2004.
Further, The U.S. has more players age 23 or younger in the Top 300 than any other nation, and, coming out of Wimbledon, the U.S. had 13 American women in the Top 100 and eight U.S. men 21 or younger in the Top 200. Notable examples on the men’s side include Tiafoe; Taylor Fritz, 19, who nearly upsended No. 6 seed Dominic Thiem in the second round; and Jared Donaldson, 20, who stretched No. 16 Lucas Pouille to five sets in the first round of the US Open. On the women’s side, CiCi Bellis, who lost her first-round match at the US Open, is the youngest women’s player in the Top 50. Many are also excited about the prospects for Taylor Townsend, 21, and Amanda Anisimova, 15.
“I’m very optimistic,” Blackman said. “I think American tennis is in the best place it’s been in 15 years.”
USTA officials also face something of a chicken and egg problem: better players inside the Top 10 generate more excitement at every level of the game, making it easier to identify talent and develop the modern game needed to be successful. Helping in that effort is the new USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla., which has 100 courts and the ability to train on every surface, not just hard courts.
The campus, though, is just an extension of the American system for trying to generate Top 10 players. The USTA’s regional training centers allow players to train with their own coaches close to home, sometimes subsidized by the USTA. Blackman, who played for Stanford University and is a former tour pro, said he wants to create the kind of atmosphere he experienced in junior Davis Cup.
To that end, the USTA is working through a new department Blackman created called Team USA Pro, which provides players ranked between Nos. 100 and 500 with coaching assistance, training and financial resources. Also, to encourage more to start playing the game, the USTA’s “Net Generation” program, which seeks to make it easier for youngsters to find tennis and start playing.
On the women’s side, the Williams sisters have long carried that Top 10 flag, but the USTA knows how hungry American tennis fans are for stars who can continue that tradition. Venus Williams – with sister Serena out this year – is the only American player in the Top 10 at the moment.
“We have a lot of good young players that hopefully in the future will be able to back them up and get more names outside of the Williamses winning Grand Slams,” said Ola Malmqvist, head of USTA women’s tennis.
Blackman and others also know that coaching and systems can only bring any athlete so far. Tiafoe showed one of those needed intangibles for any great in his match against Federer: an ability to not let a moment get the best of him.
“I came out there, really didn’t feel nervous at all,” Tiafoe said with a characteristic nonchalance.
