2020 in Review: A Look Back on the Year in American Tennis

In a season unlike any other, American tennis pros nonetheless made their marks on the international stage this year. From Grand Slam titles for Sofia Kenin and Rajeev Ram, to saying goodbye to the Bryan brothers and hello to the next wave of young stars, the 2020 tennis season saw many milestones for American tennis, despite the sport's nearly six-month hiatus as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the year draws to a close, USTA.com takes a look back at the biggest storylines on the court.

Sofia Kenin stakes claim in WTA elite

From dark horse to bonafide champion: Sofia Kenin was a revelation on the WTA in 2020. Thanks to a Cinderella-style triumph at the Australian Open, where she beat world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty in the semifinals and former world No. 1 Garbiñe Muguruza to win the title as the No. 14 seed, Kenin became the youngest American to win a Grand Slam title since Serena Williams won three in 2002. The victory catapulted the Floridian to U.S. No. 1 in the WTA rankings, a perch she held for the duration of the season. 

Posting a win-loss record of 24-9 in 11 events, Kenin was one of four players to win more than one title in 2020, and joined two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova as the one players to reach the second week of all three Grand Slams played in the shortened season.

Just days after winning her Australian Open title, Kenin helped Team USA earn a spot in next year's Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Budapest, Hungary by winning two matches against Latvia in Everett, Wash., partnering Bethanie Mattek-Sands to win the deciding doubles rubber. In early March, Kenin won her second title of the year in Lyon, France, making her the first WTA player to win multiple titles in 2020 before the tour went on pause. Upon resumption, the American reached the fourth round of the US Open - her best career result at the event - and reached her second Slam final in Paris.

For her efforts, Kenin was named the WTA's Player of the Year in December following a vote of the sport's international media, and finished at a year-end ranking of world No. 4.

Goodbye, Bob and Mike: Bryan brothers call it a career

The 42-year-old twins closed out their surefire Hall of Fame careers in 2020, closing the book by winning one more ATP doubles title and one last Davis Cup match. The duo—16-time Grand Slam champions as a pair—had intended to bow out at the 2020 US Open, but retired early amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, announcing their retirement in August.

The Bryans finished their career with four straight wins, three of which came in winning their record-extending 119th doubles crown at the Delray Beach Open in their home state of Florida. All three of those victories came via match tiebreak. They followed that up with a special farewell Davis Cup appearance in Hawaii vs. Uzbekistan, clinching the tie for Mardy Fish’s outfit and securing a place for Team USA in the Davis Cup Madrid finals, to be played in November 2021.

The Bryans were honored at the ATP Finals in November, with the doubles groups named after Bob and Mike. The Americans won four ATP Finals titles as a pair in their careers and reached six finals together. 

Youth is served: Teens Montgomery, Nakashima and Scott make a splash

If 2020 proved anything, it's that Generation Next runs deep. With Coco Gauff already firmly established on the scene, a trio of other U.S. teenagers - Robin Montgomery, Brandon Nakashima and Katrina Scott - were among those who made their mark on the circuit this year. 

At age 15 in March, junior world No. 5 Montgomery, captured her first professional title at an ITF World Tennis Tour W25 event in Las Vegas, and added her first pro doubles title at a W25 in Reims, France in October. After officially turning professional last year after spending one season at the Univeristy of Virginia, Nakashima added hardware to his own trophy case by winning his third pro title, and first at ATP Challenger level, in Orlando in November. The victory, which followed a second-round showing at the US Open where he pushed eventual finalist Alexander Zverev to four sets as a wild card, were among the results which propelled Nakashima to a career-high ranking of world No. 166 after the tour's restart.

Both Montgomery and Scott were also awarded wild cards to the US Open in August, marking their Grand Slam, and WTA-level, main draw debuts. The last player into the field as the final wild card, the 16-year-old Scott made the most of her opportunity: ranked world No. 637 at the time, she reached the second round, taking a set from No. 22 seed Amanda Anisimova, before falling in three sets. 

A teenager for the first six months of 2020, Sebastian Korda also had a banner season in his third full year as a professional. The 2018 Australian Open junior champion crossed several firsts off of his career accomplishments after tennis returned at Grand Slam, ATP and USTA Pro Circuit stages. After beating former world No. 6 Gilles Simon of France in the qualifying rounds of the Western & Southern Open, Korda made his Grand Slam main draw debut at the US Open, falling in four sets to Denis Shapovalov in the first round. However, Korda's major breakthrough came in a big way three weeks later, as he won six matches at the French Open to reach the Round of 16 before falling to eventual champion Rafael Nadal. He did not lose a set in three qualifying matches, and also upset No. 21 seed and compatriot John Isner in four sets in the second round of the main draw.

Having gone winless in his first five professional singles finals, including two at ATP Challenger events in 2019, the 20-year-old captured his first title at the Eckental Challenger in Germany in November, and reached a career-high ranking of world No. 116 as a result. For his efforts, the 20-year-old Floridian was one of six players named as a finalist for the ATP's Newcomer of the Year award, announced in December.

Score one for the collegians: Jennifer Brady breaks out, Danielle Collins shines again on Slam stage

Former UCLA Bruin Jennifer Brady marked the WTA’s return from suspension by winning her first WTA title, at the 250 event in Lexington, Kentucky, then maintained that form at the US Open, where she stormed to the semifinals before dropping one of the matches of the fortnight to eventual champion Naomi Osaka, 7-6, 3-6, 6-3.

One month later, two-time NCAA singles champion Danielle Collins nearly matched both Brady and her own breakout semifinal run at the 2019 Australian Open with a final-eight appearance at Roland Garros, beating 2020 Aussie Open finalist and two-time major champ Garbiñe Muguruza along the way. The Virginia grad fell to Kenin in the quarters.

Also at the French, Desirae Krawczyk—a former Arizona State Sun Devil—reached the women’s doubles final with American-born Chilean Alexa Guarachi, herself a one-time standout at Alabama.

READ MORE: Tennis stars on the value of college sports

Despite the cancellation of the NCAA's spring tennis season, there were still a few highlights on the college tennis scene. In November, the USTA National Campus was awarded the 2023 NCAA Division I, II and III men’s and women’s championships. The historic NCAA decision will see all six (DI-III M/W) divisional championships at the same venue for the first time, across all sports.

Finally, the 2020 ITA Fall Nationals were held at the Campus, with top juniors joining college stars in the event for the first time. These open fall championships, which also included $20,000 in prize money, piloted a new level-based competitive pathway for American players and is just the latest example of close teamwork between the USTA and ITA.

David Wagner adds to trophy case in Paris, Casey Ratzlaff makes US Open debut

In the wheelchair ranks, an all-time great kept his Grand Slam streak in tact while a rising star played his first. In October, David Wagner captured the Quad doubles title at the French Open in Paris, partnering US Open Sam Schroder of the Netherlands for a dramatic, come-from-behind victory over world No. 1 Dylan Alcott of Australia and Great Britain's Andy Lapthorne in a match tiebreak, 4-6, 7-5, 10-8. 

The win earned Wagner a stunning 25th Grand Slam title overall, and his 19th in doubles, as the 46-year-old has won at least one Slam in either singles or doubles in every year dating back to 2012. Wagner captured six titles in all on the ITF UNIQLO Wheelchair Tour in 2020, two in singles and four in doubles, and is in line to compete at a fifth Olympics next summer in Tokyo.

On the other end of the career spectrum, 22-year-old American Casey Ratzlaff played his first Grand Slam in 2020 after being selected for a wild card entry to the US Open. Ratzlaff, who studies and trains with the men's tennis team at Wichita State University in Kansas, is also eyeing a berth in Tokyo next year, having reached a career-high ranking of world No. 20 at the end of 2019. A runner-up at two singles events in 2020, Ratzlaff also reached three doubles finals, winning at Indian Wells in February.

Rajeev Ram wins maiden men's doubles Slam, Desirae Krawczyk and Nicole Melichar make major moves

There was American representation in the doubles finals at each of the three majors in 2020, with Rajeev Ram going all the way in Melbourne to win his first career major title at the age of 35. On the women’s side, Nicole Melichar reached her second career women’s singles Grand Slam final at the US Open, while Desirae Krawczyk got through to her first Slam final at Roland Garros.

Ram, teaming with Great Britain’s Joe Salisbury, claimed his first Grand Slam men’s doubles title in his 58th major appearance. That made it back-to-back years with an AO title for Ram, as he won the mixed double crown in 2019 with Barbora Krejcikova for his first major silverware. He finishes the year at No. 14 in the ATP doubles rankings, after reaching a career-high of No. 5 in February.

Melichar, the WTA’s top-ranked American doubles player at a career-high No. 11, reached the women’s doubles finals at both the Western & Southern Open and the US Open in New York this summer, alongside Xu Yifan. Also a French Open semifinalist (with eventual singles champ Iga Swiatek), Melichar won two WTA doubles title on the year: in Adelaide, Australia, with Xu, and in Strasbourg, France, with Demi Schuurs.

Krawczyk had never been beyond Round 3 at a major when she entered the year’s final Slam with Alexa Guarachi. But the duo took out Melichar and Swiatek in a three-set French Open semifinal, coming from behind in both sets they won to reach the championship match. The 26-year-old Krawczyk notched two WTA titles in 2020, bringing her career total to four by winning in Acapulco, Mexico, with Giuliana Olmos, and in Istanbul with Guarachi. She finishes 2020 at a career-high WTA doubles ranking of No. 25.