While play in Melbourne was still in full swing, many Americans who were eliminated early from the first Grand Slam of 2014 hopped islands from Australia to Maui to participate in the Royal Lahaina Challenger. With many young Americans edging close to the top 100, the event was a great opportunity to stride forward further. The $50k USTA Pro Circuit event hosted a field that included Jack Sock, Ryan Harrison, Tim Smyczek and other Americans eager to build early momentum in 2014.

One player who benefited dramatically was Bradley Klahn. Klahn, fresh off pushing Grigor Dimitrov to four sets before succumbing in the first round at Melbourne, entered Maui with confidence. The California native maintained his momentum, riding to the Maui title without dropping a set. With his fast start in 2014, Klahn has jumped to world No.82, his highest career ranking. He sits just behind another surging American, Donald Young, who is at No. 79.

While Young was not in the Maui field, Smyczek was. The 26-year-old, who entered 2014 as American No. 3, looked to be sitting perfectly to join Klahn in an all-American final. However, after leading Tsung-Hua Yang by two breaks in the first set of his semifinal, Smyzcek unraveled in dropping a first-set tiebreak and the second set. With his first-round loss at the Australian Open coupled with the Maui result, he has seen has ranking drop to No. 100.

It was a short and difficult stay for Harrison and Sock, who both exited after first-round defeats in Maui. Sock, who advanced to the second round in Melbourne only to fall to Gael Monfils, was forced to retire with an arm injury. Meanwhile, Harrison, who fell to Monfils a round earler at the Australian Open, was eliminated by Mischa Zverev.

The month of January appeared to create a split between those bidding for American No. 3 behind John Isner and Sam Querrey, and those treading water. Young, Klahn, Sock and Denis Kudla all thrived while Smyczek, Harrison and Alex Kuznetsov did little to benefit themselves.

Quietly, however, the United States has placed seven men within the top 100 while the gap between Young and Querrey, who are currently Americans No. 2 and 3, is now only 30 spots. This prompted one American to give a bold prediction in Hawaii, “We have about 10 guys who could make a jump this year. I would not be surprised if we (the USA) had maybe the most guys in the top 100 by the end of the year,” opined No. 109 Denis Kudla. This group of young Americans have formed a tight-knit bond among each other, and the results are showing on the court.

Klahn, the Maui champion, had opted to head back to Australia to play the Burnie International Challenger, where he would have been the top seed. However, wrist pain has forced him to withdraw from the tournament. Klahn is hopeful to use a strategy to play as many matches as possible early in the season while staying fresh. With continued early success at the Challenger level, opportunities for ATP 250 events should become more accessible for him.

Many of the players who shone in Maui will gather again in Dallas for a $100k Challenger event in early February.  Dallas will be another stage upon which each of these rising Americans can make a case for greater attention.