Why American men struggle on clay -- and what they're doing to fix it

It has now been more than a quarter-century since an American man lifted the Coupe des Mousquetaires — Andre Agassi's 1999 title at Roland Garros remains the last time the Stars and Stripes flew over the men's singles podium on Parisian clay. That drought is the backdrop to a question the American tennis community keeps wrestling with: what is it about the red dirt that has kept U.S. men off the top step for so long?

Clay demands a different kind of patience — longer rallies, heavy topspin, the ability to grind through a five-set war of attrition on a surface that turns pace into nothing. American development has historically leaned into hard-court athleticism and big serving, the exact weapons clay neutralizes most aggressively. The culture, the calendar, the training surfaces back home — it all stacks up against producing a Roland Garros champion.

That's exactly the challenge Ben Shelton and the next wave of American talent like Learner Tien are staring down. Shelton's game — explosive serve, thunderous left-handed forehand, shot-making that can light up any arena — is built for moments. The clay conversion asks him to layer in the kind of consistency and defensive resilience the surface demands, without blunting the weapons that make him so dangerous. The work is ongoing and deliberate.

The American men aren't standing still, though. There's a growing awareness that cracking clay is a long-term project, and the players putting in that work right now are the ones most likely to end that 27-year wait.