pFor years, one of the biggest questions in tennis has been when an American man would win a Grand Slam singles title. It has been 21 years since a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/andy-roddick/r485/overview'Andy Roddick/a triumphed at the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/us-open/560/overview'US Open/a./p
pa href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/taylor-fritz/fb98/overview'Taylor Fritz/a, the first American man to reach a major singles final since Roddick at a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview'Wimbledon/a in 2009, has a chance to halt the questions on Sunday when he faces World No. 1 a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/jannik-sinner/s0ag/overview'Jannik Sinner/a for the trophy at Flushing Meadows./p
pAccording to a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/brad-gilbert/g016/overview'Brad Gilbert/a, who coached Roddick to the title here in 2003, the circumstances are much different./p
pldquo;I'm not going to say you took it for granted or expected it, but 2002 was an all-American final, and we had so many Americans in the finals of Slams then,rdquo; Gilbert told ATPTour.com. ldquo;So it wasn't a stretch. It was that you figured Andy was the new guy.rdquo;/p
p/p
pRoddick accomplished a lot in his Hall of Fame career, climbing to No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings and reaching four additional major finals. But no other American man has broken through since he did more than two decades ago./p
pWhen Roddick emerged victorious in New York, a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/roger-federer/f324/overview'Roger Federer/a had just won his first major title at a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview'Wimbledon/a two months earlier. a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/rafael-nadal/n409/overview'Rafael Nadal/a and a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/novak-djokovic/d643/overview'Novak Djokovic/a were not yet in the spotlight./p
pldquo;You didn't know [Roger] was going to become what he was going to become, and then Rafa and Joker. So at that time, I kind of just thought it was normal. It was American dominance,rdquo; Gilbert said. ldquo;You thought it was going to continue.rdquo;/p
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pRoddick entered the 2003 a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/us-open/560/overview'US Open/a in top form, having won back-to-back ATP Masters 1000 titles in Montreal and Cincinnati, including a victory against Federer in Canada. He won 20 of 21 matches leading into the seasonrsquo;s final major./p
pldquo;Andy played great that whole summer,rdquo; Gilbert said./p
pAfter reaching the semi-finals with the loss of just one set, Roddickrsquo;s dreams of Grand Slam glory nearly came to an early end. He lost the first two sets of his semi-final against a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/david-nalbandian/n301/overview'David Nalbandian/a before rallying past the Argentine 6-7(4), 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-1, 6-3./p
pAt 5/6 in the third-set tie-break, Roddick saved match point with a big serve./p
pldquo;He had to really dig out of a jam in the semi when he was down two sets to none and he was in trouble in that breaker,rdquo; Gilbert said./p
pThe coach recalls rain wreaking havoc, forcing Roddickrsquo;s final opponent, a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/juan-carlos-ferrero/f316/overview'Juan Carlos Ferrero/a, to play on four consecutive days. /p
pldquo;That was definitely tricky that he had to do that,rdquo; Gilbert said. ldquo;[Andy] got a round ahead twice during the tournamenthellip; He definitely benefitted a little by a couple times finishing [his match]. But you still had to win the matches and the Nalbandian one was a nail biter.rdquo;/p
pRoddick then defeated Ferrero 6-3, 7-6(2), 6-3 for the trophy. No American man has accomplished the feat at a major since. /p
pWill Fritz change that on Sunday?/p
p[NEWSLETTER FORM]/p
