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America facing drought in men's tennis

Shaun Powell

August 26, 2008

Arthur Ashe Stadium was poised for another epic pairing of native-born men, the kind of matchup that riveted the U.S. Open for so many years and made it the captivating tournament it is today, except for one little problem: Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras, invited to appear for last night's celebration of past champions, didn't show up.

On that point, and only that point, they share something in common with their fellow Americans.

Everywhere you look in tennis, especially in the big tournaments and particularly the big matches, American men are pulling a Sampras and an Agassi, so to speak. They're not showing up. They're nowhere to be found, leaving the patriot in all of us to reach deep into our inner YouTube and rediscover that 1990 men's final, the match that spawned roughly a decade of American male domination.

My memory of that day hasn't faded to black. While riding the No. 7, someone handed me a ticket to the final. Agassi, the bushy up-and-comer, reached the championship match. But John McEnroe, who was quickly getting older if not less crankier, lost in the semis to some teenager named Sampras and sapped the tournament of appeal. There was even a fear that American men's tennis would fade right along with McEnroe into the sunset.

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Of course, Sampras ultimately won the tournament, the first of a record 14 major singles titles for him. And that match was the first of many involving two Americans who stirred the game and put the U.S. in the U.S. Open.

That was a long time ago, or in tennis terms, five tiebreaker sets ago. As our national tennis tournament opened with much pomp and past champions last night, a curious pairing soon followed about an hour after the ceremony: James Blake played Donald Young. No offense to these two fine gentlemen who have represented themselves and their country well. But one of them hasn't fulfilled all the promise and hype surrounding him, and you wonder if the other one ever will.

Such is the fractured state of men's tennis in America, where there isn't an Agassi or Sampras in sight, or for that matter, a Venus or Serena. Blake and Andy Roddick are lurking at the bottom of the world's top 10, and Mardy Fish is the only other American in the top 50. You could probably say with some conviction that all three of the top American men players have seen better days.

So when's the Next One coming?

"Eventually," said Ivan Lendl, the former Czech who became a U.S. citizen in 1992. "You know how these things go. It all goes in cycles. Right now, it's a 'need' cycle for the U.S. We need to find more great champions. It'll happen soon enough."

What American men did best in the past was bridge gaps. Agassi and Sampras were a smooth and productive transition from Jimmy Connors and McEnroe. That hasn't happened this time, at least not to the same extent. Roddick won the U.S. Open in 2003, but that remains his one and only major. Lucky for Roddick, he grabbed that title before Roger Federer got going. Now with Federer finally showing signs of mortality, it's not an American taking advantage but Rafael Nadal, from Spain, and Novak Djokovic, a Serb.

"It's all about timing, too," Lendl said. "Your timing must be right."

Yes, from a timing standpoint, Roddick had the misfortune of running smack into Federer's prime, a Tiger Woods-like brick wall. As for Blake, he's still looking for a big moment that'll probably never come, and at 19, Young is still learning how to use a razor.

The best thing about all this? Tennis is a game in which your nationality, for the most part, means little to nothing to hard-core fans. Arthur Ashe Stadium will sell out a Federer-Nadal match just as it would Sampras-Agassi or McEnroe-Connors. People appreciate greatness, no matter where it was born and raised. And you'd find plenty of folks who'd rather see, say, Boris Becker than Sampras because Becker was a lot more exciting.

At the same time, this is tennis, a game that last registered a pulse among the general public here when it had great American men at the top. Maybe that was a coincidence, maybe not. Still, if tennis wants to break new ground and become a bit more than the niche spectator sport that it is around here, finding a fresh new matchup of great Americans certainly wouldn't hurt.

Just a hunch, but Blake vs. Young isn't it.