Ben Shelton, Frances Tiafoe and Tommy Paul try to add to the best French Open for US men in decades

PARIS AP It s been years since three American men reached Week at the French Open Back then it was Andre Agassi Michael Chang and Jim Courier each of whom won the tournament at certain point This go-round the trio is Tommy Paul Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe all scheduled to be on court Sunday in fourth-round action at Roland-Garros Yeah about time joked Jessica Pegula who advanced Saturday and was one of five U S women in the round of joining Coco Gauff Madison Keys Amanda Anisimova and Hailey Baptiste It s exciting to see Obviously you want to see your fellow countrymen do well on the other side and I m reliably truly keeping up with them quite a lot So I hope they keep it going Who do the American men left in the French Open play on Sunday Won t be easy of unit perhaps especially for the th-seeded Shelton the big-serving lefty who goes up against defending champion Carlos Alcaraz of Spain for a berth in the quarterfinals No Paul takes on No Alexei Popyrin of Australia No Tiafoe meets unseeded Daniel Altmaier of Germany Not since Courier and Pete Sampras in have multiple Americans made it to the quarterfinals in Paris Historically the slower red clay used at the French Open has not been particularly kind to men from the United States Selected of that is only that they tend to grow up playing mostly on hard courts which reward a big-strike style of hard-hitting tennis and so they are not as accustomed to the patience and footwork required on the red dirt I really do think everyone can play on this surface reported Paul an Australian Open semifinalist two years ago I remind myself it s just tennis But for years Paul commented he was not excited to participate in the French Open And that s coming from someone who won the event s junior title as a teen in Now I come over here and I look at it as an opportunity revealed Paul who grew up in North Carolina I think all the Americans do Andre Agassi in was the last US man to win the Roland-Garros title Agassi in was the last American man to win the trophy at the French Open and the nation hasn t had a male finalist since then Before that it was Courier in and Before that it was Chang in And before that you have to go all the way back to Tony Trabert in and American women have had much more success singles titles in the Open era including seven for Chris Evert and three for Serena Williams plus runner-up showings the bulk in recent months by Coco Gauff in This is the first time since that a total of eight American women and men were still around for the fourth round It s super critical not to worry about what was and just worry about what is stated Tiafoe a -year-old from Maryland who twice made the semifinals at the hard-court U S Open but began his Roland-Garros career by going - Now we re at the French Open and just try to be elite This is where it counts So guys just believe it Unlike in New York where Tiafoe is the center of attention and a fan favorite a scene he loves There is so much anticipation there s so much ability Paris he disclosed presents a different vibe and more of a low-key kind of thing So far so good Ben Shelton tries to stop the defending champion in Paris There wasn t likely to be anything low key about Shelton vs Alcaraz in the main stadium Court Philippe-Chatrier They are among the flashiest bulk entertaining athletes in men s tennis at the moment Alcaraz is seeded No At the same age as Shelton who won an NCAA title for the University of Florida Alcaraz already owns four Grand Slam titles with at least one each on the clay at the French Open the grass at Wimbledon and the hard courts at the U S Open That s a pretty cool opportunity pretty cool experience that not a lot of people get or see in their lifetime noted Shelton a semifinalist at the U S Open in and the Australian Open in January but - at Roland-Garros before this year For me I m definitely going to enjoy it and go out there and see what I can do because I m starting to gain selected speed gain a little bit of traction on this surface and starting to see selected of my best tennis I like to think of myself as dangerous whenever I get to that place Howard Fendrich has been the AP s tennis writer since Find his stories here https apnews com author howard-fendrich More AP tennis https apnews com hub tennis Source