Multiple five-set victories during a sweltering day -- including Francis Tiafoe's thrilling marathon win and Jannik Sinner's stunning loss on center court -- sets up six American men with third-round opportunities at the French Open at Roland-Garros.
An American hasn't won a grand slam in men's singles in 23 years, but Tiafoe, Learner Tien and Tommy Paul are among the seeded players from the United States with a puncher's chance in a now wide open field. No. 5 seed Ben Shelton joined Taylor Fritz as the top Americans to lose before the weekend after struggling against Belgium's Raphael Collignon.
Shelton was the highest-rated remaining American whose odds to win increased significantly post-Sinner before Collignon gave him all he could handle on Thursday in straight sets. He is the fifth Top-10 men's seed to lose this week, the most through two rounds in Paris since 2004.
The 18th-seeded Tien, whose best major finish was reaching the quarterfinals at this year's Australian Open, saved two match points against Facundo Díaz Acosta to win in five sets. The 20-year-old is coming off his first tour-level title on European clay at the Gonet Geneva Open and is 17-9 on the year.
A master point-constructer, Tien's game translates well on clay and he seems patient in longer, heavy-shot rallies. Tien learned from his loss to Alexander Zverev in the first round of last year's French Open with timely execution and will play 10th-seeded Flavio Cobolli next.
Zachary Svajda, 23, beat Aussie Adam Walton in four sets, while Paul handled Lorenzo Sonego in straights and Alex Michelson took out fellow American Nishesh Basavareddy on Wednesday 7-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. A sixth American -- 31st-seeded Brandon Nakashima -- forced a fifth set against Luca Van Assche before prevailing 6-7, 6-4, 5-7, 6-1, 6-3.
Tiafoe honest about remaining field
The second highest-seed American left at No. 19, Tiafoe said his only focus was keeping "scoreboard pressure" against Hubert Hurkacz during Thursday's 6-7, 7-6, 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 victory.
Tiafoe's ninth career five-set win extended past the four-hour mark and tested his endurance in the final games. His post-match celebration lasted a full minute and featured him getting bear-hugged in the first row by fans and one of them taking his racket.
No. 19 Frances "Big Foe" Tiafoe is advancing to the third round after taking down Hubert Hurkacz 👏 Big Foe HYPE after the W 😤 Watch Roland-Garros on TNT 📺 pic.twitter.com/R9kaHfZtQs
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 28, 2026
Tiafoe took off his shirt and flexed before heading to the net to congratulate Hurkacz on a well-played match. Tiafoe told TNT Sports he gave the fan who swiped his racket a signed pair of shoes in exchange for good luck charm.
"I was going to do something crazy, but I had to realize, dude you're only in the third round," Tiafoe said on set after the match. "A lot of emotions, man. I could've got it done an hour earlier and I was serving for it, but itt was awesome getting it done against a great player."
Tiafoe overcame 43 aces and 88 winners from Hurkacz thanks to more consistency with his ground strokes. Tiafoe only made 32 unforced errors to his opponent's 59 and did so without hitting a single drop shot, daring Hurkacz to try and stay in longer rallies.
Like other remaining Americans in the draw, Tiafoe is taking things round by round, even with the world's top two players out of the bracket.
"You can only beat one person today and that's really all I'm focused," Tiafoe said. "I'll be honest -- I felt pressure [to win] prior because of no Carlos. But at the same time, as much as I want to say it's huge opportunity, a lot of the guys I lose to aren't Alcaraz or Sinner. But yeah, it's a big opportunity and it's probably the best start to the year I've had in a long time."
Shelton bows out
What separates Shelton from most of the ATP Tour isn't just the left-handed missile he calls a serve -- it's the pressure he puts on opponents from the opening point. He often plays with the kind of controlled aggression men's tennis demands, blending elite athleticism with fearless shot-making that instantly changes the energy inside a stadium.
However, unforced errors piled up early against Collignon and he could not recover after he was broken twice in the first set and went on to lose 4-6, 5-7, 4-6. Shelton's best grand slam results were semifinal trips at the 2023 US Open and the 2025 Australian Open, but he made the fourth round at the French Open last year and was coming in 18-8 on the year with two titles.
Collignon had eight passing shot winners to one for Shelton, whose atomic serve wasn't enough after missing dozens of break point opportunities in the one hour and 46-minute match matinee.
Shelton is still developing, especially on clay. His return game has improved and movements are cleaner, but the rapid growth shown on other surfaces failed to materialize this week in Paris for the American many around the sport believe has the highest ceiling on tour.
Third-round matches for Americans
- (10) Flavio Cobolli vs. (18) Learner Tien
- (19) Francis Tiafoe vs. Jaime Faria
- (15) Casper Ruud vs. (24) Tommy Paul
- (25) Francisco Cerundolo vs. Zachary Svajda
- (27) Rafael Jodar vs. Alex Michelson
- (31) Brandon Nakashima vs. (4) Félix Auger-Aliassime
Chasing history
Andy Roddick is the last American man to win a grand slam singles title, doing so at the 2003 US Open with a straight sets victory over Juan Carlos Ferrero. All-time greats like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic -- who's still fighting in this tournament for his record-extending 25th major title -- dominated from there before Alcaraz and Sinner have combined to win the last nine grand slams.
The drought for the USA runs deeper than the Big Three and the two new titans who have sucked up all the oxygen, however. Too many budding American prospects have relied on booming serves and forehands instead of developing the movement, creativity and point construction demanded on slower surfaces.
Clay-court development lagged behind Europe, where future stars were molded into all-court tacticians at a faster rate and on speed surfaces, the current greats are simply overpowering in all facets.
There's also the reality of American sports culture. Elite male athletes in the U.S. often gravitate toward football, basketball or baseball long before tennis enters the picture. Tennis remains a premier destination sport globally, but in America, it competes for attention and talent.
The gap feels closer now than it has in years, but there's still a long way to go. Taylor Fritz, who lost in the opening round this week, Shelton and Tiafoe have pushed deep into majors and cracked the sport's upper tier. The talent exists again. The problem is today's generation is now chasing future legends like Alcaraz and Sinner -- the next pair of global supernovas waiting at center court.
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