The Decline of American Tennis

Gone are the days when we heard about Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Billie Jean King, Pete Sampras, John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors and Andre Agassi doing wonders on the court. This was an era dominated by American tennis geniuses, and in the current crop of players only Serena Williams comes even close to emulating the performances of these all time greats.

Can the likes of John Isner, Madison Keys and Sloane Stephens continue the legacy? When was the last time we heard the American national anthem at the final of a grand slam and saw an American champion? Although the Bryan Brothers (Mike and Bob Bryan) have kept the “Stars and Stripes” flying high at grand slams in doubles, it’s been 12 years since America has had a male Grand Slam champion. Serena and Venus Williams are the only Americans who have won Grand Slams after 2002. How can a country, that was once considered one of the superpowers of the tennis world, decline, and decline so badly that it has only one lone player in the ATP top 50?

The Decline of American Tennis

This has come about due to the huge shift of culture in America. Tennis’s huge American fan base has shifted to other popular sports such as American Football, baseball and basketball. Approximately 1 million Americans watched Serena Williams lift the 2013 US Open crown, while a staggering 170 million Americans tuned in to watch the Super Bowl. Mind boggling numbers? Definitely. Ever since the popularity of other sports has increased, young talents are preferring to choose them over tennis. A plus point of team sports is that the whole burden of a win or loss doesn’t fall on you, you share it with the whole team. A very common saying about tennis is: “Tennis is a very lonely sport. It’s just you out there on the court, no help, no support.” Tennis players are probably subjected to more media scrutiny and criticism than any other sport.

Another factor in this American downfall is the huge loss of training facilities. The reason that most American tennis players come from California or Florida (or have practiced there at some part of their career) is because those specific areas have world class tennis academies and coaches. Although USTA has been working hard to create better courts all across the US (they’ve built 17 academies already) tennis also needs more television  air time if they want to make a mark on young American minds.

It’s been three years since an American man (Andy Roddick) made it to the quarterfinals of a Slam, and that man has already retired. As for the current American players, sure they have talent, but they don’t have the maturity, temperament and hunger to win that is needed to succeed on the big stage. High quality coaches who teach the mental aspect of the game from a young age could very well change that.

I won’t go so far as to saying that American tennis is a complete disaster yet, but it certainly needs a lot of luck if it wants to ascend the pinnacle of tennis once more.

 

Main Photo by Yunus Kaymaz/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images