American teenagers Tommy Paul, Reilly Opelka and Taylor Fritz, who all won junior Grand Slams this season, are down playing the attention American men's tennis is getting.
This year, Paul won the junior French Open, Opelka won junior Wimbledon and Fritz won the junior U.S. Open.
All three 18-year-olds have now turned professional. Fritz is ranked No. 207 following two Challenger victories, Paul is No. 274 and Opelka is No. 975.
"I had always been a dream of mine to play high-level pro tennis, and once I started to get that attention, I decided going pro was the best way to go about it," Paul told *SI.com*.
While their emergence has fueled talk of an American tennis turnaround, they are distancing themselves from the pressure of being the country's next big thing.
"I’m not playing it for any reason other than myself," Fritz said.
Though there is frequent reference to the lack of a consistent American presence at the top of the game, but these teens are all just starting their career.
"We get that question a lot in the media, whether or not we feel pressure because of the drought, but I don’t feel any pressure," Opelka said. “It’s going to take us some time. All of us. The average age in the Top 100 is around 28 years old now, players are so physically fit and so strong, and you need a lot of experience to get to the top level and be consistent."