MELBOURNE, Australia—It’s been almost two full decades since this many U.S. men reached Week 2 at the Australian Open.
And while that group in 2004 included a couple of Grand Slam champions in Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick, everything is all so new for the quartet there this time: Tommy Paul, who is 25; J.J. Wolf, 24; Sebastian Korda, 22; and Ben Shelton, 20, are all about to make their fourth-round debuts at Melbourne Park.
It must feel very much like a chance for a career-defining result for them and other young men still in the bracket.
“I haven’t thought about it too much, honestly, because I just have that one-match-at-a-time mentality, but I think it’s hard for anyone to look past that. There’s been a lot of upsets,” the 67th-ranked Wolf, who played college tennis at Ohio State, said after eliminating lucky loser Michael Mmoh 6–4, 6–1, 6–2 in an all-American matchup on Saturday. “But upsets happen for a reason. A lot of people out here are good. It is a real opportunity.”…