By Rory Carroll
INDIAN WELLS, California (Reuters) – Taylor Fritz said it will take an American man winning a Grand Slam for men’s tennis to truly break through to the younger generation at home and that it is time for the men to step up and match the results of the U.S. women.
No American man has won a Grand Slam since Andy Roddick at the U.S. Open in 2003 and they are hoping to end that drought this year with five players in the top 25.
“It’s great that we are building the tennis culture in the U.S.,” Fritz told reporters at Indian Wells on Wednesday.
“That’s something that I wanted to contribute to help my whole career.
“I think the women have been doing an incredible job of that for a long, long time, and I think the guys kind of need to step it up a little bit.
“Honestly, I think it’s going to take one of us winning a Slam to really get that spike of young fans on the men’s side of things.”
Fritz, who won Indian Wells three years ago for the biggest title of his career, said tournaments around the world need to do more to attract younger fans, including those who may not be familiar with the sport.
“I think something like the Australian Open does a great job of that,” he said.
“People just go there to have a great time. It’s not necessarily so much about the tennis. You watch the tennis but there are a million of things to do while you’re there.”
American women have been doing their part to grow the game at home, with newly minted Australian Open champion Madison Keys and 2023 U.S. Open winner Coco Gauff among the three U.S. women in the top five.
World number four Jessica Pegula said those Grand Slam titles have had an impact.
“That’s definitely a big change,” she said.
“Having Coco and Maddy win Slams over the last couple of years as Americans is huge for women’s tennis or for women’s tennis in America.”
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Indian Wells; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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