The Happy Slam is a Happy Place for Team USA

By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Friday January 20, 2023

The Happy Slam is a happy place for Team USA in 2023. The American have placed 14 singles player into the third round – the most since 1996 – and eight men have made it through (also the most since 1996).

And, even better? This year’s group of men is younger than the eight that reached the third round at the Australian Open in 1996. The average age of this year’s eight (24.07 years) is nearly two years younger than the eight in 1996 (25.81).

Americans into third round at Aussie Open:

Men:

Mackenzie McDonald (faces Nishioka)
Frances Tiafoe (faces Khachanov)
Sebastian Korda (faces Medvedev)
Ben Shelton (face Popyrin)
JJ Wolf (faces Mmoh)
Michael Mmoh (faces Wolf)
Tommy Paul (faces Brooksby)
Jenson Brooksby (faces Paul)

Women:

Danielle Collins (lost to Rybakina)
Bernarda Pera (faces Gauff)
Coco Gauff (faces Pera)
Jessica Pegula (defated Kostyuk)
Madison Keys (faces Azarenka)
Katie Volynets (faces Zhang Shuai)

It has also been a seed-shattering affair for Mackenzie McDonald and Jenson Brooksby.

Their second-round upsets over the No.1 seed (Nadal) and the No.2 seed (Ruud) marked the first time in 29 years that American men have defeated both the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds at the same major and the first time ever on record that American men have upset the Top 2 seeds at the Australian Open.

The American woman have been a force in Melbourne in recent years, and that continues to be true.

Per the USTA, the six women reaching the third round this year mark the third time in the last five years that six U.S. women have reached this stage at the Australian Open. A different American woman has reached the Australian Open final in each of the last three years (2020 Sofia Kenin, champion, 2021 Jennifer Brady, runner-up, 2022, Danielle Collins, runner-up).