Over the years, college tennis has led to the production of some of tennis’ most notable stars, including Arthur Ashe, John McEnroe and John Isner. At the 2023 US Open, it couldn’t have been more evident that the next wave of college-to-pro-tennis athletes making their breakthroughs has arrived.
This year, many former and current college tennis players took the court across both men’s and women’s events vying for their shot at Grand Slam glory.
With the many upsets and surprises we saw throughout this year’s last Slam, college tennis was at the forefront of many of the great storylines that fans were able to witness. Americans Ben Shelton and Peyton Stearns were two of the names that were widely talked about, but other Americans such as Fiona Crawley, Nicolas Moreno De Alboran, and Alex Michelsen made their presence felt at their home tournament.
Here’s a look at some of the former collegiate players who made a big splash in New York.
Australia’s Hijikata put up his best Grand Slam result overall, and best result here at the US Open, by making an appearance in Round 4.
The 22-year-old spent some time at the University of North Carolina between 2020 and 2021 before turning pro, and he made the most of his opportunities in New York in his second Open appearance.
After losing in Round 1 to Rafael Nadal in 2022, he bettered his result by beating Pavel Kotov in four sets in Round 1. He later knocked out Marton Fucsovics in Round 2, Zhang Zhizhen (the conquerer of 2022 finalist Casper Ruud) in Round 3 and was stopped by an in-form Frances Tiafoe in Round 4.
Ben Shelton
The 2023 Australian Open quarterfinalist certainly ended his major season on a high note, making his first-ever Grand Slam semifinal, and was able to achieve the feat during his second appearance at his home major.
Just a short 15 months prior to joining the pro tour full-time, under the watchful eyes of his father Bryan Shelton, the American spent some time playing college tennis at the University of Florida where he helped clinch the 2021 NCAA team title as well as a singles title of his own in 2022.
He later turned pro last June, and exactly one year later, his dad left his coaching position at Florida to coach him full-time.
Despite an up-and-down season this year, the former Florida Gator’s game was high-quality and so was his flashy personality. Shelton beat Pedro Cachin in Round 1, Dominic Thiem in Round 2, and Aslan Karatsev in Round 3. Besides his second round match, which ended in a retirement in the second set, all of his matches leading up to the all-American matchup with Tommy Paul went four sets.
The four-set trend continued for Shelton as he took out compatriots, No. 14 seed Tommy Paul in Round 4 and No. 10 seed Frances Tiafoe in the quarterfinals. His magical run at the US Open came to an end in the semifinals, where he suffered a straight sets loss to Novak Djokovic.
In the women’s draw, Stearns loudly announced her presence onto the New York stage. The former NCAA champion from the University of Texas gave American tennis fans lots to cheer for as she worked her way through to the second week in the bottom half of the draw.
At Texas, Stearns was the first player in program history to win an NCAA singles championship and helped the Longhorns win back-to-back team titles in 2021 and 2022.
In her second US Open appearance, Stearns won her first three matches without dropping a set. She first battled past Viktoriya Tomova in Round 1, scored a convincing win over Clara Tauson in Round 2, and clawed her way past Katie Boulter in Round 3.
The 21-year-old American lost a tough match to Marketa Vondrousova in Round 4 in three tight sets, but impressed with her heavy forehand and fiery spirit.
Danilina was another University of Florida Gator who had a big US Open this year. The 28-year-old Kazakh won her first ever Grand Slam title in mixed doubles alongside Harri Heliovaara. The two made history with their win: Danilina was the first Kazakh mixed doubles champion at the US Open, and her partner was the first Finnish mixed doubles champion.
The seasoned doubles player won three doubles titles before her first major, and her decorated collegiate career at Florida spanned over three years where she was a part of the team’s 2017 national championship win.
Erin Routliffe
Routliffe made history for New Zealand as the first woman from her country to win a US Open doubles title when she and Canada's Gabriela Dabrowski triumphed in Sunday’s women’s doubles final. She is just the second New Zealander all-time to win a Grand Slam women’s doubles title, joining Judy Connor at the 1979 Australian Open.
Before going pro, Routliffe played tennis at the University at Alabama from 2013-17, and won two NCAA doubles titles with teammate Maya Jansen during her four-year tenure.
