This week’s Countrywide Classic marks the beginning of the US Open Series of tennis, a six-week, 10-tournament road trip that winds its way east across the country, culminating with the US Open in New York City in late August. The series represents the heart of the hardcourt tennis season, and is typically when the top American men’s players really begin to excel.
This year, that may or may not be the case. Either way, we’re likely to know a lot more about the state of American men’s tennis by the time September rolls around.
Right now, the outlook could be better. After a brutal French Open showing that saw every single American man lose in the opening round, the U.S. contingent at Wimbledon managed a slight rebound. Andy Roddick made it to the quarterfinals before losing to Richard Gasquet of France, and James Blake made it into the third round. Both Roddick and Blake are currently ranked in the top 10 in the world, at Nos. 4 and 9, respectively. And both players typically play their best on hardcourt, so those rankings may improve over the next month and a half.
The problem is, American tennis is once again in danger of becoming a two-man show. After Blake, the next ranked American is Mardy Fish at No. 38. Maybe even worse, no American has won a Grand Slam event since Roddick won the US Open in 2003.
And after watching Pete Sampras, who alongside Andre Agassi carved out one of the most dominant stretches ever on behalf of U.S. tennis, be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame on Saturday, the current mediocrity of U.S. tennis becomes even tougher to accept.
Still, sports move in cycles. And as he prepared for this week’s tournament, Blake put the recent American struggles in perspective.
“I understand the situation with having followed up the era of one of the best generations of men’s tennis from any country,” he said. “There’s going to be a drop-off. It’s tough to duplicate that. I don’t think that type of dominance will ever be produced again with how global the game has become.
“Things are changing, and that’s good because it’s raising the sport, which is eventually going to be good for the game. It’s just a matter if America can keep up, and I feel that we are keeping up with two players in the top 10.”
Tennis great Jack Kramer, a former world No. 1 player and one of the founding members of the Association of Tennis Professionals, echoed Blake’s thoughts.
“We’re always looking for a replacement for Pete and Andre,” he said. “James and Andy look like they’re the key guys. When (Blake) plays his best game, he’s almost impossible to beat. He’s got to get to that level on a consistent basis. We’re hopeful that he’ll get there.”
Help also may be on the way. Several promising younger American players will be on display at the Countrywide Classic, including world No. 90 Sam Querrey. Querrey, who is 19, is considered extremely talented, but somewhat inexperienced. Many believe that he could play a major role in the future of American tennis.
“It really is impressive (to be) where he is at that age, because he really is that young,” Blake said of Querrey. “He’s mature, but he also has the ability to get better in terms of being a professional and being a little bit more of a grizzled veteran, being on tour for a while and seeing it all and doing it all. I think he’s going to be very dangerous and very tough to stop in a couple of years.”
The upcoming hardcourt season may help the American men build up some momentum moving into the remainder of the year. A strong showing at the US Open and some continued success at the Davis Cup would go a long way toward restoring some of the luster to U.S. tennis. A win in the Davis Cup, in particular, would be considered by some American players as a major step toward the rebuilding of American tennis.
“(Winning) would help our psyche a lot because we have been working so hard towards the Davis Cup, and we care about it so much,” Blake said.
“To accomplish that together … would be the greatest accomplishment I could think of, and I think the other guys would share that opinion even with all the accomplishments they have individually, because it’s something we’d do together.”