On strawberries and cream...

Wimbledon is a unique experience, but it hasn't been friendly to American men's players for a long time. The other Grand Slam tournaments haven't exactly been friendly, either.

I’ve always been grateful that my sportswriting career took me around the world to cover 18 Olympics, many Stanley Cup Finals, NBA Finals, the World Series, Super Bowls, and men’s and women’s World Cup soccer tournaments, among other events. But only once was I assigned to cover Wimbledon, in 2013. And yes, I had to try the strawberries and cream there. As I recall, they tasted great.

It was a memorable tournament, because Scotland native Andy Murray became the first British man to win the Wimbledon men’s singles title since 1936. It set off a national celebration that was heartfelt and well-earned. He won again in 2016 but is near retirement now at 37, though he made an admirable return after undergoing hip resurfacing surgery.

But American men have had little to celebrate at Wimbledon for decades, since Pete Sampras won his fourth straight title (and seventh in eight years) there in 2000. Andy Roddick reached the final in 2004, 2005, and 2009, losing each time to Roger Federer.

Southern California native Taylor Fritz and New Jersey native Tommy Paul this year became the first two American men to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals since 2000, but that’s where each player’s road ended.

It was no surprise when Paul, seeded 12th, lost in four sets to Carlos Alcaraz on Tuesday. No. 13 seed Fritz, who had lost a five-set quarterfinal to Nadal two years ago at Wimbledon in a super tiebreaker and had won the Eastbourne tournament just before this year’s Wimbledon, carried high expectations but lost on Wednesday to No. 25 seed Lorenzo Musetti of Italy. Musetti, among the few disciples of the one-handed backhand, showed great touch, finesse, and versatility in prevailing 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.

Musetti, 22, advanced to the semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time. Fritz, 26, still hasn’t gotten that far, but he’s not giving up hope.

“I think the more times I’m just putting myself in situations deep in Slams, it’s just like I’m going to get more confident,” Fritz said in a postmatch interview posted on the Wimbledon YouTube channel. “I am ready to win and go further, but the more I put myself in these situations the easier it will get. I think I played fine today.”

Playing “fine” doesn’t cut it, and he knows it. Fritz acknowledged he didn’t serve as well as he needed to on Wednesday and lamented that he wasn’t able to consistently generate power off Musetti’s slices. He said Musetti had “played well on some really big points,” and played especially well in the fifth set.

And so the American men’s Slam drought was extended.

“I think the [loss to Nadal] two years ago hurt even more just because I was within points of winning,” Fritz said. “But I think this one, I’m probably more disappointed, maybe.”

He also said he planned to continue practicing instead of taking a week off after Wimbledon, as he usually does. “I’m pretty motivated to stay on top of things now and kind of keep the momentum going because I think I’m playing really solid tennis,” said Fritz, who will represent the U.S. at the Paris Olympics.

The results posted by American men have been equally dismal in the other three Slams.

The last American man to win the Australian Open was Andre Agassi in 2003, his fourth and final championship there. No American man has reached the final there since. The clay at France’s Roland Garros has been just as frustrating: the last American man to win the French Open was Agassi, in 1999. Again, no American man has reached the final there since then. The last American man to win the U.S. Open was Roddick in 2003; Agassi was the runnerup to Roger Federer in 2005 and Roddick lost to Federer in 2006 but there has been no American presence in the men’s final since then.

There’s no single, clear reason for the American men’s struggles in Slams. Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Murray had a near stranglehold on major titles the past two decades, but that doesn’t explain why American men haven’t been able to come anywhere close to challenging them—or to challenging Alcaraz, who is a three-time Slam singles champion at 21.

Have other countries simply caught up to the U.S. men? Are other tennis federations better at identifying and nurturing talent or better at allocating resources? Fritz, Paul, and Frances Tiafoe were anointed as next-generation stars at a young age, but none has broken through at a Slam. Sebastian Korda, 24, and Brian Shelton, 21, have great potential but their games are still developing. Fritz, Paul Shelton, Korda and Tiafoe are all ranked in the top 30 in the world, but it’s difficult to picture any of them ending the American men’s Slam frustration anytime soon.

By contrast, Italy has the world’s No. 1-ranked man in reigning Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner, who was upset by Daniil Medvedev in the Wimbledon quarterfinals. Italy also has two players in the semifinals—Musetti on the men’s side and No. 7 seed Jasmine Paolini on the women’s side. Italy’s men won the Davis Cup last year, led by Sinner, and the women were runnersup in the Billie Jean King Cup. What are Italian players doing right?

Unlike American men, American women tennis players have acquitted themselves well in Grand Slam competition during the past two decades-plus.

Lindsay Davenport won the Wimbledon women’s title in 1999 and was the runnerup twice; Venus Williams won five Wimbledon women’s titles starting in 2000 and Serena Williams won the first of her seven titles there in 2002. Serena Williams was the runnerup at Wimbledon as recently as 2018 and 2019. The last American woman left in the draw this year was No. 19 seed Emma Navarro, whose exciting run was stopped in the quarterfinals by Paolini.

Starting with Davenport’s championship at the 2000 Australian Open, American women have won there 11 times, including four straight thanks to Davenport, Jennifer Capriotti (twice) and Serena Williams from 2000-03. Sofia Kenin won there in 2020, with Jennifer Brady (2021) and Danielle Collins (2022) reaching the finals.

Capriotti and Serena Williams prevailed at the French Open in 2001 and 2002, respectively, and Serena won seven titles on the tricky clay. Kenin (2020) and Coco Gauff (2022) each lost the final there. Gauff won her first major at the U.S. Open last year; Serena Williams won six titles at Flushing Meadows, and Sloane Stephens won and all-American final against Madison Keys in 2017.

Five American women are ranked among the world’s top 20. That list is led by No. 2 Coco Gauff, who won her first Slam title last year at the U.S. Open but was eliminated in the round of 16 at Wimbledon by Navarro. It’s easy to imagine Gauff repeating as champion at the U.S. Open, and emerging star Navarro making a good run, too.

But American men’s Slam struggles appear likely to continue after they turned the cream sour at Wimbledon yet again.