I was just looking at the rankings and the US only has 7 players in the ATP 100 men's singles rankings. And other than Roddick's win at the US Open I think the last Americans to win Grand Slams were Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi.
I wonder what are some of the factors in this decline. I'm sure there are many talented junions in the US but I wonder why they are not becoming successful on the tour. For one thing the TV coverage doesn't help. It occurs to me that this week the semifinals at the French Open, one of which is slated to be one of the best matches of the year, will not be televised anywhere in the US. Incredible! That can't be helping the popularity of the game.
THANK YOU!! finally someone notices it too besides me. whats going on with tennis folks? and i just have to say that im totally disappointed in the tennis channels coverage by the way, but thats a whole other subject, but yeh dude im with you on the best match of the year not even being televised!!! blows my mind and with that being said.......so why is tennis dying a slow death?? hmmmm........
I disagree with that. The US is going through a transitioning period with the lost of Andre. Andy is not doing so well, he's dropped in the rankings but rightfully so. He's not very consistent and not even Jimmy Connors could help his game. Truth be told Andy's game is very one dimensional, he hits the ball hard, yea we get it. But so does ever other male tennis pro player. He does not have a plan B or C. That's Andy's issue. He does not want to put in the work needed to change his game.
However, Blake doing well. Blake has maintained his current ranking for a few years now. I would say James B is actually improving.
Tennis is a more global sport now than 10 years. This is why we are seeing more international players and better ones too. We have some young male talent emerging, Donald Young, Scoville Jenkins, Sam Querrey, Isiman. The game is very competitive now and it takes more than talent to break the top 10. Sometimes I think the US male competitor wants too much too fast with immediate gratification. Tennis is a sport that you can progress at more slowly and young american boys want the limelight that comes with team sports.
As for the women's game, we have some really nice junior coming up. Right now, Russian women are dominating the sport. The Russian Fed's program for tennis is fantastic at teaching the basics.
To add to Topaz's response, European players get more world-class tournament level experience early on in their careers compared to young players in the U.S. now. The quantity of quality match play is critical during the formative years of a player's career. It happened that Sampras, Courier, Agassi, Chang, Martin, etc... all played against one another as juniors so there was plenty of world-class tournie play during that time. Sadly, it's not the case anymore.
Until the US start looking for talent, American tennis is slowly dying. Rodderick should quit tennis because he has no talent. James Blake needs to get a new coach. What is he waiting on? Genepri needs better coaching. Mardy Fish is so sorry he should not call himself a tennis player. There you have it. All the GREAT American tennis players. Wow! What a joke. The US need to start a draft just like all the other sports. If not, there will soon be no tennis for the US. Think about it.
Topaz said "We have some young male talent emerging, Donald Young, Scoville Jenkins, Sam Querrey, Isiman. " I am not so sure about this. Donald Young reached a high of 73 I believe but has now drifted back to the below 100. Jesse Levine, who is not on your list, beat him at Wimby. Scoville Jenkins reached his peak a couple of years ago at the US Open and is now at 200 falling fast. Who is Isiman? Did you mean Isner? Isner is 100 to 50 ranked person at best. Sam Querry is good but I don't think he has the movement to become a top ten player. Today's top five players, Federer, Nadal, Djoko, Davydenko, and Ferrer, all have exceptional movement and defensive skills. Andy's subpar movement has kept him from winning more slams despite having the best serve in the game. James Blake's movement, along with his forehand, has kept him in the top ten despite an average backhand and inconsistent play.
For US tennis I think one problem is that we are just not getting the athletes that we used to get into the game. Suburban soccer, golf and x-game sports has drawn away some of the pool that used to play tennis. Secondly we are huge, diverse country that has always relied on individual initiative to get through. This freedom may be good for capitalism but does not lend itself to finding and encouraging our most talented players to stay in the game. The USTA has started supporting more elite level training camps for juniors 14 to 18 but this is too little to late. Ages 8 to 12 are the most crucial for developing the technical skills that tennis requires. Yet, the USTA still relies on the pocket books of parents to train their own kids. This economics further reduces the pool of elite level athletes going into tennis.
Nice analysis Joe O. I agree with most of your points. I thought Donald Young had serious potential, but thus far it is unrealized. Sad for a kid who at first glance would appear to have all the tools to be minimum top 10. From an economics standpoint, look at the amount of money available to the top 200 players in other sports such as baseball, football (American) and basketball. It dwarfs the amount available to the top 200 tennis players in the world. Even setting aside American cultural biases towards these three team sports, it is only natural that the best athletes would gravitate toward them - on average they pay better. Nevertheless, I still think there is a good chance for America to produce a top 3 player in the next 5-10 years, with or without USTA (read centralized) planning. Until that time, I am afraid to suffer through the unspeakable and shocking horror of sustained media coverage of the game of.... golf.