Not since Andy Roddick won the US Open<\/a> in 2003 has a male from the United States lifted a grand slam trophy, an almost inconceivable drought for the most successful nation in the sport's history.<\/p>\n LIVE UPDATES:<\/strong> Australian Open day seven<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong> Djokovic sets a date with 'quickest' de Minaur<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n READ MORE: \ufeff<\/strong>Stosur's teary farewell to professional tennis<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n It's a drought that can be written off by the dominance of the 'big three', with Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic gobbling up almost every major up for grabs since Roddick retired in \ufeff2012, yet it has left the nation that produced Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Jim Courier<\/a>, John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors and many before them deeply unsatisfied.<\/p>\n It has put question marks over the USA's once vaunted development system and heaped pressure on every young player to emerge at a grand slam with a performance \ufeffthat hinted at possible greatness.<\/p>\n Those players have come and gone and still the wait remains for the return of an American man or men to restore the nation's once formidable reputation.<\/p>\n Watch the Australian Open live and free on the Nine Network: Channel 9, 9Gem and <\/strong><\/em>9NOW<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n According to Australian tennis great Alicia Molik, that wait may finally be drawing towards its end with the Australian Open providing a glimpse of the impressive depth of talent \ufeffcoming off the production line.<\/p>\n In recent years Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe, both now 25, have taken big strides, cementing themselves in the world's top 20, and taking the mantle of leaders of America's generation next.<\/p>\n But even younger is the super impressive Sebastian Korda (22) and explosive lefty Ben Shelton (20), who dispatched of local favourite Alexei Popyrin in the third round.<\/p>\n Also remaining in the draw in the second week is flamboyant 24-year-old \ufeffJJ Wolf – who meets Shelton in the fourth round, guaranteeing a first grand slam quarter-final appearance for one of them – and 25-year-old Tommy Paul, who has a winnable fourth round match-up against Spanish 24th seed Roberto Bautista Agut.<\/p>\n It's the kind of line-up that was almost routine in the second week of slams back in the 90s and almost every other decade of the open era before it.<\/p>\n Speaking on Wide World of Sports' The Morning Serve<\/em><\/a>, Molik said the new generation of Americans had benefited from the fact that they were all coming through together, pushing each other to greater heights.<\/p>\n "I think once one player breaks through for your nation, one of your peers, which these guys have all grown up together, the attitude is, you know, 'if he can, why can't I?' And we're seeing that resurgence now," Molik said<\/p>\n "It's brilliant for American men's tennis and obviously it had such a rich history in the past, at a particular time having Agassi, Sampras, Michael Chang, Todd Martin, the list goes on, Andy Roddick…<\/p>\n "So it's a really important time, I think it's a significant time for American men's tennis and starting to put it back in the spotlight in the United States."<\/p>\n Arguably the most impressive performance from any player this Australian summer has come from son-of-a-gun Sebastian Korda, who has long been considered a future superstar but has been left behind by the likes of Italy's Jannik Sinner and Spanish world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz.<\/p>\n Korda, the son of 1996 Australian Open champion \ufeffPetr Korda, has been in hot form since touching down in Australia, pushing Novak Djokovic all the way in the Adelaide International final before falling in a thriller after coughing up match points.<\/p>\n That sent a warning shot to his rivals and he followed it up brilliantly in \ufeffthe first week of the Australian Open providing one of the tournament's biggest shocks when he dispatched Russian star Daniil Medvedev in straight sets<\/a> in a statement win on Rod Laver Arena in prime time on Friday night.<\/p>\n Molik sees Korda as a future world No.1 \ufeffand expects him to challenge for grand slam glory in 2023.<\/p>\n "I really love the game of Sebastian Korda," Molik said.<\/p>\n "I was fortunate enough to have called his match [versus Medvedev] in commentary and I think he'll be a new [world] number \ufeffone soon, I think he'll be a grand slam champion soon, and the reason I say that is his disposition on court is incredibly calm and collected but he's got the game to match. He loves to move forward, he took out Daniil Medvedev, he was quite comfortable in the surrounds of Rod Laver Arena and just handled the situation so well.<\/p>\n \ufeff"It's just a game we haven't quite seen – a beautiful backhand, and can hit every shot in the book, so really, really exciting."<\/p>\n Korda plays Polish No.10 seed Hubert Hurkacz on Saturday afternoon for a place in the quarter-final.\ufeff<\/p>\n For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here<\/strong><\/em><\/a>!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n
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