USTA Press Release, May 21, 2022

Thirty-one Americans are set to compete in the singles main draws at the French Open beginning next week – 16 women and 15 men – leading all nations in total players and seeded players competing on both the men’s and women’s sides.

The 15 American men in the singles main draw this year is the most since 19 in 1995. This is the third consecutive year 13 or more American men are playing in the French Open singles main draw, the first time for those numbers over a three-year span since 1994-96.

The 16 women marks the eighth year in a row 16 or more Americans have featured in the women’s main draw at Roland Garros.

Seven American men and five American women are seeded, both numbers that lead all nations.

The seven seeded men is the highest number of American seeds in the men’s draw at Roland Garros since Grand Slams began seeding 32 players after the 2001 French Open. The previous high was four, set in 2003 and 2017. The last time the French Open actually had seven American men’s seeds in singles was 1982, when Grand Slams had 16 seeds.

The seven American men seeded are also the most for any country at a Grand Slam event since seven Spaniards were seeded at 2015 Roland Garros.

This continues the consistent upward trend of American tennis, most recently on the men’s side. As of the May 16 ATP rankings, the U.S. led all nations with 13 players ranked in the Top 100 and eight in the Top 50, ahead of Spain’s seven. Eight of those Americans in the Top 100 are also age 25 or younger, ahead of Spain’s five.

The U.S. continues to lead all nations in players ranked in the WTA Top 100, with 12.

Said USTA Player and Coach Development GM Martin Blackman:

“Over the last 13 years, the USTA’s Player Development team has worked in a strong and coordinated three-way partnership with the private sector and the 17 USTA Sections. We realized at the beginning of this project back in 2008, that we could only be successful if we worked through this partnership to create a developmental pathway and a cultural unity in Team USA that recognized and respected the critical role that our great American private sector coaches play in junior development.

“In order to do that we relied on the knowledge, expertise and passion of Section staff for Player Development in all 17 Sections. Their leadership ensured that our pathway could be customized at the Sectional and Regional level, recognizing the fact that every city and state is different. It’s been an amazing journey and the continuity over the last 13 years is bearing more and more fruit every year.”