The last American man to win the US Open was Andy Roddick, who beat Juan Carlos Ferrero in straight sets in the 2003 final at age 21. That was also the last time an American man won any Grand Slam singles title, a drought that now stands at 23 years and 90 majors. It has a real chance of ending this weekend: Ben Shelton beat Frances Tiafoe 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 in Friday night’s all American semifinal and plays top seed Alexander Zverev in Sunday’s final at 2 p.m. ET on ABC, the second American man in a US Open final in three years.
Roddick in 2003
Roddick arrived at Flushing Meadows in September 2003 as the hottest player in the world, having won Indianapolis, Montreal and Cincinnati that summer. In the semifinal he saved a match point against David Nalbandian and won in five sets, then dismantled Ferrero, the reigning French Open champion, 6-3, 7-6 (2), 6-3 in the final. The win made him world No. 1 later that year. He was 21. Nobody who watched it would have guessed it was the end of a line that ran through Connors, McEnroe, Sampras and Agassi.
Every American Man to Win the US Open in the Open Era
| Player | Titles | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Jimmy Connors | 5 | 1974, 1976, 1978, 1982, 1983 |
| Pete Sampras | 5 | 1990, 1993, 1995, 1996, 2002 |
| John McEnroe | 4 | 1979, 1980, 1981, 1984 |
| Andre Agassi | 2 | 1994, 1999 |
| Arthur Ashe | 1 | 1968 |
| Stan Smith | 1 | 1971 |
| Andy Roddick | 1 | 2003 |
From 1974 through 2003, an American man won the US Open 17 times in 30 years. Since Roddick, zero in 22 tournaments.
The Near Misses Since
Roddick, 2006. He reached the final three years after his title and lost to Roger Federer in four sets, part of a run in which Federer beat him in four major finals, three of them at Wimbledon.
Taylor Fritz, 2024. Fritz beat Tiafoe in an all-American semifinal, the first American man in a US Open final in 18 years, and lost to Jannik Sinner in straight sets.
Those are the only two American men’s finals at the US Open since 2003. Tiafoe reached the semifinals in 2022, 2024 and now 2026, joining Andre Agassi as the only American men with three US Open semifinals this century, and Shelton made the semifinals in 2023 as a 20-year-old.
Why This Year Is Different
No. 8 seed Shelton beat No. 11 seed Tiafoe 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 on Friday, September 11 at Arthur Ashe Stadium, finishing with 47 winners to 27, and plays Sunday’s final against Zverev, who beat Khachanov 6-3, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (6) earlier Friday. Shelton is guaranteed to rise to No. 4 in the world after the tournament. Both got here the hard way. Shelton beat defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in a five set quarterfinal that ended at 3:33 a.m. Wednesday, his first win over Alcaraz in four tries. Tiafoe came back from two sets down and 3-0 in the fifth to beat Alex Michelsen 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 in four hours and 38 minutes. Shelton leads the head to head 3-1, but the pair have split their two US Open meetings, Shelton winning the 2023 quarterfinal and Tiafoe the 2024 one in five sets.
The other semifinal is top seed Alexander Zverev, who won his first major at the French Open in June, against Karen Khachanov, played Friday afternoon. Full times and channels are on our US Open schedule page.
The Bottom Line
Andy Roddick’s 2003 US Open title is the last by an American man at Flushing Meadows and the last by an American man at any Grand Slam. Only two Americans have reached the final since, Roddick in 2006 and Taylor Fritz in 2024, and both lost. Ben Shelton gets the next chance Sunday at 2 p.m. ET on ABC against Alexander Zverev.