American tennis is passing the vibe check at the Australian Open.
Lindsay Davenport, a former coach to Madison Keys, has found herself more finely attuned to the inner workings of U.S. tennis in the last year-plus, having debuted as the team’s Billie Jean King Cup captain in 2024. And the former world No. 1 says that an “amazing vibe” is part of what’s fueling American success at the year’s first major.
“I say it all the time, you guys are sick of hearing it, but there’s an amazing vibe in American tennis right now,” Davenport said Saturday on Tennis Channel Live ahead of the start of the fourth round. “Between the females, the males, the younger players, the older players, they even practice with the juniors. That all plays into it.”
Read more: The United States has reached another moment of truth at a Grand Slam
Seven U.S. players—three women and four men—are through to the singles fourth round in Melbourne, but much of the spark has been fueled by the breakout of childhood friends Alex Michelsen and Learner Tien, each of whom are into the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time. With upsets of seeds Stefanos Tsitsipas and Karen Khachanov, 20-year-old Michelsen is the youngest American man with multiple Top 20 wins at the same major since the 1990 US Open, while 19-year-old qualifier Tien’s nearly five-hour stunner against No. 5 seed Daniil Medvedev was arguably the biggest shock of the first week in either draw.
