Tennis Atlantic

American Women Surge in Paris. The Men, Not So Much #RG13

Jamie Hampton capped off an amazing Saturday for the women of American tennis, beating former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in straight sets. Hampton is now poised to crack the top 50 for the first time in her career, and crack it hard. This will be her first ever Slam Sweet 16, which you call the 4th round.

Prior to that, Bethanie Mattek-Sands punched her ticket to only her second Slam Sweet 16 in a victory over qualifier Paula Ormaechea.

Earlier yet, Sloane Stephens outlasted Marina Erakovic to earn a second consecutive spot in the Roland Garros.

And of course Serena will be there, too.

A full quarter of the field in the hunt to win it all at Roland Garros are Americans, and Venus Williams isn’t even one of them.

Even better, they won’t have to face a fellow American in the 4th round.

Hampton and Mattek-Sands surprised. Sloane and Serena did not disappoint. Stephens will face Sharapova, Serena will take out on Roberta Vinci, Mattek-Sands will play Maria Kirilenko and Jamie Hampton gets Jelena Jankovic.

There’s nothing sweet about the 4th round for the American men’s field. Not a single one will be dirtballing in Paris next week. In the final American singles match of the day, John Isner played some mean overtime (2 tiebreaks and an extended fifth set) but lost to Tommy Haas in the end.

In Haas, the Germans have a 35-year-old man in the Sweet 16. That doesn’t sound clean. But it’s better than the alternative.

The success of the American women will help ease the pain of an underwhelming performance by their male counterparts. Cheers to them and God Bless the men.

—S. Fogleman