Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz finally have American men pulling their weight in tennis again

This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.

Good morning, Winners! Welcome back to the Morning Win. Thanks so much for reading today. Appreciate you giving us a bit of your time.

Tennis is different from other sports. It’s hard to say anyone ever has a “home-field advantage” in the sport. The crowd has favorites, sure. But everybody is really there just to watch some good tennis. That’s how it usually goes, anyway.

But you don’t want to see Frances Tiafoe on the US Open court. That’s a home game.

On Tuesday night, Tiafoe faced off against Grigor Dimitrov, the No. 9 ranked player on the tour. And every step of the way, it seemed like all 24,000 fans in the building were riding his coattails.

There’s a reason for that. People have been itching to see a renaissance in American men’s tennis.

Obviously, America hasn’t been without greats in tennis for years on the women’s side. The Williams sisters — especially Serena — have covered us for the last two decades with ease. That’s tennis royalty right there.

Now, we’re moving into the Coco Gauff era. She’s still got a lot of room to improve after taking a bit of a step back this year, but she’s only 20 years old and has already won a US Open and should win a lot more.

The American men’s side hasn’t been as successful. Andy Roddick was the last American man to win a major in tennis.

Folks. I said Andy Roddick. He hasn’t played since 2012. He won his last major nine years before that, in 2003. It’s 2024 now. You don’t need to be a math genius to recognize that’s a really long time ago.

But fret not, folks! There’s hope now. An American will make the US Open Final after Friday’s match between Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz. Fritz (No. 12) is the likely favorite against Big Foe after having gone 6-1 against him through seven matches. But Tiafoe (No. 20) is on fire right now. He’s won 11 of his last 12 matches, with the only loss coming against the ATP’s No. 1 player, Jannik Sinner. Don’t count him out.

Regardless of the result between these two, we’ll have an American in the final of a major for the first time since 2009. We’ll see what happens from there.

But right now? This is a pretty great place to be in.

The wrong kind of history

Florida State fans, I promise I’m not trying to pile on here. I know things aren’t going great, but the hits just keep coming.

The first Associated Press ranking of the CFB regular season arrived on Tuesday and after two mind-blowing losses to Georgia Tech and Boston College, FSU has dropped from the poll completely.

Florida State is just the third team ever to drop out of the first poll of the season after being ranked as a preseason top 10 team, according to the AP. That’s not a place you want to be.

The season is far from over. Maybe FSU will climb back into a place of respectability. We’ll see. But, right now? This season can only be described as a nightmare.

Other movers: 

— Clemson fell 11 spots from No. 14 to No. 25 after a blowout loss against No. 1 Georgia.

— Texas (No. 3) and Alabama (No. 4) each jumped up one spot, giving the SEC three teams in the top four of the poll with Ohio State (No. 2) being the lone non-SEC team in the picture.

— Texas A&M fell completely out of the rankings from No. 20 after losing to No. 5 Notre Dame.

— Georgia Tech (No. 23) is ranked for the first time since 2015 after starting 2-0 this season.

— Michigan dropped a spot down to No. 10 but can gain some ground with a win against Texas this weekend. What a matchup.

The Caitlin Clark era is officially here for the Fever

Obviously, Clark has been playing all season for Indiana and has been really good as of late.

But the true test starts in a few weeks.

With losses from the Atlanta Dream and the Chicago Sky on Tuesday, the Fever officially clinched a playoff spot on their day off.

WE'RE IN.

we have officially clinched a spot in the 2024 @WNBA playoffs

https://t.co/lmq97tihkJ pic.twitter.com/xK8Tg9izY4

— Indiana Fever (@IndianaFever) September 4, 2024

That’s huge. The development of this team has been quite a treat to watch. The Fever have been an offensive juggernaut since the team’s 2-9 start at the beginning of the year. Since then, they’ve gone 15-6 and have won eight of their last 10 games.

What’s really cool about this is that this will be the first time the Fever have made the playoffs without Tamika Catchings. EVER.

The Indiana Fever have officially clinched a playoff berth. For the first time since 2016 — Tamika Catchings final season — the franchise will play beyond the regular season.

— Tony East (@TonyREast) September 4, 2024

Playoff basketball in the WNBA is different. It’s more physical. Opponents are locked in on your tendencies.

How will Clark and the Fever react? I can’t wait to see.

Quick hits: An AsSwiftant coach … Make it or break it … And more

— Travis Kelce confirmed that Taylor Swift has drawn up plays for the Chiefs this year. ANDY REID. YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO.

— Robert Zeglinski has 15 NFL players who really need to have a big season this year.

— And here are Robert and Christian D’Andrea’s Week 0 power rankings heading into the NFL season.

— Angels fans welcomed Shohei Ohtani back with a standing ovation. This was awesome. Here’s Cory Woodroof with more.

— Meg Hall has the trendiest WNBA fits of the week for you here.

— Here’s an explainer on why Sony shut down its new Concord game after just two weeks.

That’s a wrap, folks! Thanks for reading! Appreciate you. Have a fantastic day. Peace.

-Sykes