Lost boys of U.S. Tennis
Melbourne, Australia. Another Men’s Singles Grand Slam final. Not an American boy in sight.
That the game is played between a Serb and a Spaniard is no luck of the draw: they are the current world n° 1 and n° 2 in the ATP ranking.
Not surprisingly, these two countries have excelled in Tennis in recent years. Spain beat Serbia to the top spot in the Tennis Global Cup in 2011, just as they beat Russia in 2010, while Russia took the honours in 2009 and 2008.
Since 2009, when they were second by a mere 8 points, the USA have been sliding ever quicker into the ranks of the tennis also rans: 4th overall in 2010 (only 12th in the Men), 8th in 2011, when the US boys rallied a little into 6th place. Incidentally, the US women, whose performances kept the flag flying in 2010, sank to 10th overall in 2011, beaten by smaller, though evidently better countries like Belarus, Belgium and Denmark.
In the meantime (2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011) the USA continued to be the best nation in sports according to GSN, winning the Global Cup handsomely for four years in succession.
So where are they? In the Men’s singles in Melbourne John Isner was the last to bow out, in the Third round (last 32), while Mardy Fish (n° 8 seed) and veteran Andy Roddick (seed 15) both exited in the Second round. For the Nebraskan, who will be 30 this year, the days of n° 1 spot in the ATP ranking seem very far indeed…as far back as 2003!
Both Roddick and Isner fared worse in Australia than they did in the last Grand Slam event, the 2011 US Open, when they both lost in the Quarter Finals, this time to serious opponents such as Nadal and Murray.

Is there hope for the future? The valiant effort of US junior Mackenzie McDonald, unseeded and out in the semifinal of the Junior Singles, remains a solitary one. Two other young Americans entered the draw, Connor Farren (n° 14 seed) and Trey Strobel, and both were swiftly out in the first round.
So the search is on for the future Agassis and Sampras, while European players continue to dominate world Tennis. By the way: two other Junior semifinalists, Adam Pavlasek (Czech Republic) and Filip Peliwo (Canada) do train in the States. 
