2025 French Open: John McEnroe discouraged by state of American tennis, then Taylor Fritz loses in first round

Prior to top-seeded American Taylor Fritz’s stunning loss Monday in the first round of the 2025 French Open, John McEnroe unloaded on the state of tennis at the top of sport, which hasn’t seen a Grand Slam champion from the states in more than two decades.

Andy Roddick’s U.S. Open title in 2003 was the last American title in a men’s singles final, the other most recent championship coming from Andre Agassi in the same year. All-time greats Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic dominated the last 20 years along with the emergence of World No. 1 Jannick Sinner means the immediate future for tennis at the highest level is bleak for the Americans.

To put the Grand Slam ineptitude from the Americans into perspective, Federer won the first of his 20 career singles titles two months before Roddick’s victory in New York.

“We need a fresh generation in our sport, big time,” McEnroe said during a Zoom call at the start of French Open play. “It’s a transition period where we have to do a much better job [of] marketing ourselves, and hopefully this is … the beginning of something where we can do just that, with this tournament.” 

Francis Tiafoe, whose highest career ranking was No. 10 in 2023, won his first round match on clay in straight sets and plays Pablo Carreño Busta on Wednesday. Fellow American Ben Shelton needed a five-set comeback to survive Lorenzo Sonego and Tommy Paul dropped his first set in the opening round before taking care of business to move on.

If he keeps it up, chances are Paul would face off in the quarterfinals with reigning French champion Carlos Alcaraz, whose captured several Grand Slams.

“Obviously, the key thing is, we gotta get a Ben Shelton to win one,” McEnroe said. “We gotta get some American men to win some majors. And that would make it, to me, much more interesting, if Tiafoe, or Tommy Paul (stepped up).”

Sinner is one of the tournament favorites, but has never reached a final at Roland Garros. He won the Australian earlier this year and captured last year’s U.S. Open with a win over Fritz in the final.

Fritz ousted Tiafoe in a five-set thriller during the semifinals that felt like the height of men’s tennis on the American side in recent years.

“Jannik and Alcaraz are not going to win every title,” McEnroe said. “But then again, I didn’t think the other three guys were going to win as much as they did So, I don’t know.”