EXCLUSIVE | "Too Much 'Wham Bam', Not Enough Patience" – John McEnroe tells us why Americans struggle at Roland Garros

John McEnroe reflected on American players' ability to contend for the Roland Garros title, and the differences in results achieved by US men and women. Just a couple of days before Roland Garros begins, Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, and Madison Keys appear as strong contenders, overshadowing the expectations for their male counterparts, like Taylor Fritz or Tommy Paul.

The last female champion at Roland Garros was Serena Williams in 2015, and since then, an American woman has reached the final four times: Williams (2016, defeated by Muguruza), Sloane Stephens (2018, defeated by Halep); Sofia Kenin (2020), and Coco Gauff (2022), with the latter two falling to Iga Swiatek.

On the men's side, the last champion was Andre Agassi in 1999, and no American has reached the final since. Only three American men have won the title in the Open Era: Michael Chang (1989), Jim Courier (1991, 1992), and Agassi. In the case of women, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Jennifer Capriati, and Serena Williams collectively boast a total of 14 French Open titles, compared to just 4 for the men.

McEnroe, who will be one of TNT Sports' commentators during the tournament, addressed the differences to TennisUpToDate that he sees in the success of American men and women at the event. "I think Billie Jean King has something to do with that which was, you know, Title 9 and women being treated on an equal basis in terms of prize money at the majors and a lot of other events now," he said. "So I think you saw the best female athletes in a lot of cases playing tennis, and I think that's the biggest thing."

The 7-time Grand Slam champion John McEnroe came close to the title in 1984, but fell in the final to Ivan Lendl. In his career, he achieved a 25-10 record at Roland Garros (71.4%), his lowest win percentage at a major. "Certainly you need to be have access to the clay courts and the willingness to put the time and it's a different surface," he added. "Americans may be more used to a little 'wham bam thank you man style' than, that patience that you need a lot of times and so that that was an issue."

"We've also have to pass Rafael Nadal. I mean the guy won 14 of these things so it's in a crazy amount of success. So it's not the people they've been up against. You know you're talking about the three greatest players that ever lived.

“Agassi won, also Courier and Chang. So we had that but then these guys came along and then you realize that. And the game changed it came even faster so we'll see what happens, because the door is going to be open obviously and it's opening now we'll see if we're able to sort of counteract that because it'll be interesting to see what happens the next five years.”

On the women's side, there are four American top-10 players – two of them among the top four seeds. Led by Coco Gauff – who is coming off back-to-back finals in Madrid and Rome – deep runs wouldn't be surprising from Jessica Pegula (No. 3), Madison Keys (No. 8), and Emma Navarro (No. 9). Other significant names include Amanda Anisimova (No. 16) – champion in Dubai earlier this year – former finalist Sofia Kenin (No. 30), and recent Rome semifinalist Peyton Stearns (No. 33).

Regarding the men, the top American seed is Taylor Fritz (No. 4), who has historically struggled on clay and is coming off a poor clay-swing with a 3-3 record, results far below what he achieved earlier in the year. Arguably, Tommy Paul is the name with the most credentials on the surface, having been a semifinalist in Rome. Nevertheless, the World No. 12 will face a true challenge to achieve a deep run, with chances of meeting Casper Ruud in the round of 16 and Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals.