American tennis has enjoyed a really encouraging past 12 months across both the men’s and the women’s game.
The United States has been well represented in three of the four Grand Slams and they also recently won the Fed Cup for the first time in 17 years.
For so many years Serena and Venus Williams had contested the biggest honours and although that same sibling rivalry was reignited during this year’s Australian Open there was another American making waves in Melbourne.
CoCo Vandeweghe enjoyed her finest performance at a major tournament to date, first easing past defending champion and then world number one Angelique Kerber in straight sets before overpowering Garbine Murguruza to secure a maiden Grand Slam semi-final spot. This run saw the 25-year-old enter the top 20 for the first time in her career and suddenly made the world sit up and take note of the California-born player.
A good run at Wimbledon, including a straight-sets victory over Caroline Wozniacki, another former world number one, was followed up with an outstanding show on home soil in the US Open.
After surviving an early scare, beating Alison Riske in the first round despite falling a set behind, Vandeweghe then showed great resilience and composure edging Agnieszka Radwanska during a tense three-set encounter to make it to the last 16.
A second Grand Slam semi-final of the season ultimately ended on a disappointing note once more as she was beaten by fellow compatriot Madison Keys.
Although she couldn’t make it to the final the run and the performances up until her exit deserved a lot of credit.
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American women performed extremely well in general in New York with four making it to the semi-finals – the last time there was so many left at this stage was 36 years ago.
The fact that the eventual winner, Sloane Stephens, was ranked 957th just six weeks before and had only recently returned from a foot injury gives a great reflection of just how big an achievement her victory is.
Although the women have enjoyed more success at the major tournaments in 2017 the likes of Sam Querrey and Jack Sock have also had good seasons.
The ATP Acapulco tournament saw Querrey, who is known for being a tremendous server, perform to a really high standard and prove too much for David Goffin, Dominic Thiem and Rafael Nadal.
The final victory in Mexico against Nadal to secure his ninth ATP singles title was the first time he had managed to overcome the Spaniard.
Querrey, 30, continued his good form at Wimbledon with a hard-fought win against home favourite Andy Murray in five sets.
Fellow countryman Sock also has reason to be optimistic about the future based on the past campaign. He made it to a maiden Masters semi-final at the BNP Paribas Open and also became the first American in 18 years to win the Paris Masters. The Nebraska-born player also broke into the top 10 and was the first American to qualify for the ATP Finals in six years.
As well as these select individuals there are also a wave of other players which have continued to make big steps towards becoming future stars.
You only need to have a look at the current rankings to see that America is well represented in both the men’s and the women’s game.
Catherine Bellis is just 18 but has already broken into the top 50 and beaten Agnieszka Radwanska at the 2017 Dubai Championships, recording her first win over a top 10 player.
Another American teenager, Frances Tiafoe, has continued to command the attention of the tennis world with how he has pushed on this year.
The 19-year-old has claimed successive Challenger titles and has already shown he is not afraid of the big stages, proving a real irritation for Roger Federer over five sets at the US Open.
The combination of how well the next generation have progress and the success of the more seasoned players has made 2017 a really positive year for tennis in the USA.
With the amount of Americans continuing to work hard and establishing a name for themselves on the world stage there is good reason to be suitably encouraged about what the future holds.
