Column: John Isner remains standing tall as other Americans fall at Indian Wells

American men went one for four in third-round matches Tuesday at the BNP Paribas Open, and unfortunately, that wasn’t a surprise.

The future cannot come fast enough for American men’s tennis, which has a legion of promising kids knocking at the door — think Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe — but must wait while they become muscular and experienced enough to knock that door down and seize spots in the top 10 or 20. No American man has won a Grand Slam since Andy Roddick triumphed at the U.S. Open in 2003, and that streak seems unlikely to end any time soon.

The U.S. flag was carried at Indian Wells on Tuesday by John Isner, who’s seeded ninth and ranked 11th in the world. With a first serve that averaged 129 mph and a second serve that averaged 116, he lost only four points on serve in a 6-4, 7-6 (4) victory over Adrian Mannarino of France. “Everyone knows I can do that,” the affable Isner said. “It’s the other areas of my game I need to shore up.”

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Otherwise, the day went badly for the American men. Steve Johnson of Redondo Beach, the former USC standout who is ranked 35th in the world, squandered a 6-2 lead in his first-set tiebreaker against Kei Nishikori. Johnson lost that set and lost the second-set tiebreaker too, as Nishikori won, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5). Johnson, who had shoulder problems early this season, committed 38 unforced errors.

“I just didn’t capitalize on any opportunities. That’s a bummer, when men’s tennis is a point here and a point there,” Johnson said. “You change the first set, you never know what happens in the second set.”

Twenty-three-year-old Jack Sock, seeded 21st here and ranked 24th, followed Isner onto the court at Stadium 2 and fell victim to Dominic Thiem of Austria, 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-1. Thiem, 22, has won two titles this year and five in his career to rise to 13th in the world. After them came No. 31 seed Sam Querrey, who was dismissed by No. 7 seed Jo-Wilfried Tonga of France, 6-3, 6-4.

Isner, who will face No. 5 Nishikori in a round-of-16 match, noted it was progress simply to have four American men seeded in this tournament. Also, a couple of other youngsters made their presence known: Pittsburgh-born Bjorn Fratangelo, 22, came through qualifying to win his first-round match and take a set from No. 1 Novak Djokovic, and Tiafoe beat fellow 18-year-old Fritz before losing in three sets to No. 15 David Goffin.

So while the short-term picture is dreary, there’s reason to believe it will improve as those kids mature.

“I think it’s coming along pretty nicely,” said Isner, who turns 31 in April. “The players ranked behind me are all younger than me. Sam Querrey, even though he’s been around for a long time, he’s still a pretty young guy [28], not old by any means. He’s starting to play some very good tennis this year. Starting to, I guess, rediscover his form. In my opinion, there is no reason Sam should ever be outside top 30 of the world.”

He called Sock “an amazing talent” with a world-class forehand, but singled out Fritz as “sort of leading the charge” of youngsters.

“There’s a lot of hype and buzz around the crop of players that are 20 and younger,” Isner said. “So these kids —I mean, kids, I compete against them now — they have a lot of time to grow and develop, given how the pro tour has been going the last five, eight years. Players are playing very well in their late 20s and early 30s.

“These kids have a lot of time to do a lot of amazing things. You look at Taylor’s case. He’s already top 80 in the world or something. That’s pretty incredible at 18 years old. He’s on a great path, and so are the ones behind him, as well.”

Johnson agreed. “I think they can push each other to bigger and better things and hopefully they really stick with it mentally because they all have the game to make it, I think,” he said.

That’s some comfort while waiting.

Follow Helene Elliott on Twitter @helenenothelen