American men staking their claim in tennis: ‘We’re coming,’ Sebastian Korda said

Reilly Opelka, one of seven Americans ranked in the Top 40, gets very annoyed when asked repeatedly about the poor state of men’s tennis in the United States.

Although no American man has won a Grand Slam or been ranked No. 1 since Andy Roddick accomplished both in 2003, 21-year-old Sebastian Korda warned Thursday at the Miami Open Masters 1000: “We’re coming.”

Perhaps the most telltale sign that American tennis is on the upswing came last week when Taylor Fritz stunned Rafael Nadal, the all-time Grand Slam singles leader, in the final of the BNP Paribas Open, a prestigious Masters 1000 event at Indian Wells, Calif., to move up to a career-high 13. Fritz, the highest-ranked American, is scheduled to begin play Saturday.

Korda, who reached the quarterfinals here last year and has already reached the fourth round of two Slams, said Fritz’s win over one of the Big 3s — albeit a wounded Nadal (cracked rib) — inspired him. Korda said the close-knit group of Americans are pushing each other to get to the next level, just like Hall of Famers Jim Courier, Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi did in the ‘90s and early 2000s.

“Seeing Taylor doing his thing in [Davis Cup in Reno] and being part of it, cheering me on and then watching him do what he did at Indian Wells is inspiring,’’ said Korda, who coasted past Davidovich Fokina 6-1, 6-1 on Stadium Court.

“It’s awesome to see. We all root for each other. Everyone knows we’re coming, we’re on our way. … We may not be playing Grand Slam-level tennis right now but give it a couple of years and you’ll see our names up there.”

Korda, ranked 38th, was referring to young Americans such as Fritz, Opelka (18th), Frances Tiafoe (31st), Tommy Paul (37th), Jenson Brooksby (39th), Marcus Giron (52nd) and Brandon Nakashima (80th). John Isner, 36, is ranked 22nd. Paul won a straight-setter over Ben Bonzi, while Giron fell 6-3, 6-4 to Marton Fucsovics.

Brooksby, 21, struggled in his opening-round match on the Grandstand, a 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory over Federico Coria, the 30-year-old younger brother of former No. 3 Guillermo Coria. At one point, an error-prone Brooksby smashed the ball and fired his racket to the sidelines, eliciting a warning from chair umpire Carlos Bernardes.

While leading 4-1, 40-40 in the third set, a Brooksby error led to another flying racket, this one appearing to graze the foot of a ballboy. Bernardes issued a code violation for racket abuse, meaning a point penalty and game for Coria. Coria had a long discussion with Bernardes, demanding an automatic default.

Brooksby went on to win and afterward was apologetic for his behavior.

“I was frustrated in myself and my competing level. It’s been a couple of months and my energy has been low,’’ Brooksby said. “Unfortunately, that’s the way I let it out.

“That’s not how I want to be remembered and how I want people to view me, by hitting balls out and chucking my rackets a couple of times. That’s on me and I’m very sorry how I represented myself and how I looked, and I promise I won’t make those mistakes again.”

Collins, Osaka advance

Danielle Collins, the top-ranked American on both tours at No. 11, who lost to Ash Barty in the Australian Open final, is coming off a breakthrough 2021. However, a virus took her out of action for the past month. On Thursday, she managed to eke out a tough three-setter over Hungarian Anna Bondar.

In a battle between two former No. 1s on Stadium Court, 77th-ranked Naomi Osaka cruised past Germany’s 13th-seeded Angie Kerber 6-2, 6-3 to move into the third round. Osaka, who has taken long mental breaks off despite winning four Grand Slams from 2018-2021, seemed over her tearful exit from Indian Wells after a heckler insulted her.

“I think the crowd here is very warm and I also see Haitian flags sometimes, so I’m really grateful for that,’’ said Osaka, who is of Haitian and Japanese descent but grew up in South Florida.

It was a tough day for last year’s U.S. Open finalists as runner-up Leylah Fernandez is now 0-6 against Czech Republic opponents, bowing to Karolina Muchova 6-4, 7-6 (7-3). US Open champion Emma Raducanu, the 11th seed, hasn’t gone past the second round in five tournaments this year after falling 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 to another Czech, Katerina Siniakova.

Fellow Brit, Andy Murray, a wild-card entrant who has won this event in 2009 and 2013 but hasn’t been back since 2016, downed Argentine Federico Delbonis 7-6 (7-4), 6-1 in an evening match. At 5-4 up in the first-set tiebreaker, a netted backhand and double fault by Delbonis handed Murray the set. Murray rode an early break to victory in the second set. He’s next up against top-seeded Daniil Medvedev on Saturday.

Barty gives up ranking

A day after Barty stunned the tennis world on social media with her immediate retirement, the 25-year-old Aussie said she will take her name off the WTA rankings, which means the most likely next No. 1 player in the world will be Poland’s Iga Swiatek, who won Wimbledon in 2020 and is coming off Masters 1000 titles in Doha and last week at Indian Wells.

If the second-seeded Swiatek wins her first match on Friday night against Viktoria Golubic and Spain’s Paula Badosa, the fifth seed, loses hers to qualifier Marie Bouzkova, the 20-year-old would be the first Polish woman or man to ever reach No. 1. Even if Swiatek loses, Badosa would have to win the tournament to be No. 1 on April 4.

It’s a new start of the tour, which is going to be really exciting for them,’’ Barty said. “If it’s Iga, there’s no better person. … The way she’s brought this fresh fearless energy onto the court has been incredible.”

Barty did slightly keep the door ajar for a potential return.

“You never say never, but it’s a long way off at this stage,’’ smiled Barty.

This story was originally published March 24, 2022 at 9:22 PM.