The
sport needs an American male in a grand slam final: Mats Point
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[September 02, 2017]
By Julien Pretot
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Tennis needs an
American male player to reach a grand slam final and this year's
U.S. Open is a golden opportunity for a local favorite to reach the
Sept. 10 showdown, according to former champion Mats Wilander.
While John Isner, the 10th seed, was knocked out in the third round
on Friday, fellow American and 17th seed Sam Querrey advanced to the
fourth round by beating Radu Albot of Macedonia.
He is the highest seed in his quarter of the draw and in the bottom
half, only France's Lucas Pouille (16th) and Spain's Pablo Carreno
Busta (12th) are better ranked.
"There is a lot of good players, some who are super good and the
rest of them are about the same," Swede Wilander, who is at the U.S.
Open as an analyst for Eurosport, said in his daily chat with
Reuters at Flushing Meadows.
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"There is so little between them, especially when they play on slow
hard courts, anyone can beat anyone pretty much.
"Take Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal (who are on the other side of the
draw) out, the whole tournament is wide open. Which is great because
we get to see new faces."
Querrey, 29, is three wins away from the final.
No American male has won a grand slam title since Andy Roddick
prevailed here in 2003 and the former world number one is also the
last one to reach a major final, at Wimbledon in 2009.
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![](../images/090217pics/sports65.jpg)
Sam Querrey of the United States celebrates after match point
against Radu Albot of Moldova (not pictured) on day five of the U.S.
Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis
Center. Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
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"An American in the final is what you need," said the former world
number one.
"I was hoping that the young Americans would come through, that
(Taylor) Fritz, (Frances) Tiafoe would take this opportunity but
they had a tough draw.
"America needs to be part of men's tennis, not just women's tennis,
in the world it makes the sport much bigger.
"I think it would be really cool if there was an American in the
final, it's been so long and it would do so much for the U.S.
Tennis."
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by XXXX) [© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All
rights reserved.]
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