Upgraded Dallas Open puts American men’s tennis in spotlight this week

Posted by author January 31, 2025 Tennis

FRISCO — Tennis’ footprint in North Texas is expanding, and it has a distinctly American tenor.

The top four American players in the world — No. 4 Taylor Fritz, No. 9 Tommy Paul, No. 14 Ben Shelton and No. 18 Frances Tiafoe — are in the field for the biggest Dallas Open yet.

Dallas resident and former top-ranked American player John Isner spoke Friday from the blue-and-silver court at the Ford Center at The Star about the state of American men’s tennis and its impact on the event, which opens with qualifying Saturday.

“The tournament is fortunate because American men’s tennis is very attractive right now,” Isner said. “This is the most attractive it has been in the last 15, 20 years.”

Isner mentioned Fritz and Paul’s presence in the world top 10 in the world as well as the foursome’s success in Grand Slams. While no American man has won a Grand Slam since Andy Roddick’s U.S. Open victory in 2003, these four have come fairly close. All four have made major semifinals, including Shelton’s recent run at the 2025 Australian Open.

At the 2024 U.S. Open, Fritz became the first American man to play in a Grand Slam final since 2009.

“They’re all here and they’re all seeded,” Isner said of the top Americans.

The top-seeded Fritz said Friday he expects the competition to be heated among the Americans, who’ll be vying for more ranking points (500 for the champion) and prize money ($516,165 for the champion) in the Open’s first year as an ATP 500 event, rather than an ATP 250.

“All of us American guys push each other a lot,” Fritz said. “We all know what we’re capable of, what one another can do. When any of us have good results, it fires up the other guys.”

Only 16 tournaments worldwide hold the 500-level designation, and Dallas is one of only two in the United States, joining the Mubadala Citi DC Open in Washington. In terms of ranking points, Dallas trails only the nine ATP Masters 1000 tournaments and the four Grand Slams.

The upgrade also led to a venue change from SMU’s campus, where the Open had been held since relocating from New York in 2022, to the Cowboys’ headquarters at The Star.

Along with the four top-ranked Americans, former Grand Slam finalist and world No. 5 Casper Ruud and No. 25 Tomas Machac will represent the top echelon of international talent at the event.

Another player to watch this week in Frisco is 20-year-old American Alex Michelsen. The California native rose to a career-high ranking of No. 36 following a strong performance at the Australian Open, where he beat two top-20 opponents in Stefanos Tsitsipas and Karen Khachanov.

After Saturday’s qualifying round, Martina Hingis and Kim Clijsters will participate in the Women’s Tennis Classic exhibition. The main draw begins Monday and continues until the final on Sunday, Feb. 9.