U.S. tennis stars had long been a fixture in major tournaments so much so that if one of them made it to the round of 16 it wasn't impressive because it was expected. 20-30 years ago it was the golden age of American tennis and the age of tennis greats including John McEnroe, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and Jimmy Connors in the men's game and Jennifer Capriati, Billie Jean King, Chris Evert and Stephi Graf in the women's game. These stars were lighting up the courts and often two Americans would face off for a grand slam title.
Now everyone knew that Agassi and Sampras, Evert and Graf would have to retire one day but the U.S. had up and coming stars they believed would step right into their shoes. In the women's game were the Williams sisters, Serena and Venus, who have been dominant in both the singles and doubles games. On the men's side were Roddick and Fish, two explosive youngsters who were lighting up the junior circuit.
With the future of U.S. tennis in his very capable hands; his forehand to be exact, Roddick won the 2003 U.S. Open at only 21 years old. He shocked the world with his quick serve and powerful forehand and instantly became an American star and crowd favorite.
Unfortunately for Roddick and the USTA, stardom did not mean success, at least not in the form of winning majors. Roddick's only major was that 2003 U.S. Open and although he has been solid and consistent in winning 30+ other tournaments, it was the lack of majors that made Roddick somewhat of a disappointment for the USTA who did not get the future Sampras or Agassi like they were expecting.
So after years of waiting for the next American male star and after years of watching Roddick and Fish not quite able to be that guy, the USTA under control of Patrick McEnroe, created the player development program in 2008, designed to help train and produce young American tennis stars on both the men and women's sides.
It has taken four years but finally McEnroe's program is beginning to see results. In this year's U.S. Open a lot of young Americans made it in as wild cards. Most of them even had early success by winning first and even in some cases second round matches. Not only were the players winning but it was obvious to everyone watching that the level of tennis of the young Americans had gone up drastically especially in the form of four guys, two veterans and two youngsters, in particular.
Donald Young
Young at only 22 made it all the way to the fourth round before falling to Andy Murray. Although Young did lose the match he played well and even managed to break Murray quite a few times. It was Young's serve however that let him down because even though he broke Murray, Murray always managed to break back. Young also had way too many unforced errors but despite it all he put up a fight against the number four player in the world.
John Isner
John Isner, also one of the USTA's developmental students, proved this summer that he had become more than a one dimensional player. The 26 year old, 6 ft 9 athlete had always been known for his strong serve but was flawed in that he often gave up on points and had too much of a reliance on his service games. Isner was content on holding serve and going to a tie break to win it but often his serve was broken because of a lack of finesse on the court.
Isner is not that tennis player anymore. Although he can't help his tall frame which sometimes leads to fatigue, Isner has gotten himself fit and has worked on his shots in both the passing and net aspects of the game. His serve which is one of the fastest in the world, has been good enough to help him win his service games and his improved play has helped break his opponent's. It is no surprise that because of this, Isner has fought his way into the quarterfinals for the first time in his career and has a realistic shot of making the semis.
Mardy Fish
Fish came off an excellent summer which saw him win the U.S. Open Championship Series and rise to the rank of 8th in the world and the top ranked American. He seemed to be a man on a mission and someone who revived their career at the age of 29.Fish breezed through the tournament until he got to the fourth round and had to face Jo Wilifred Tsonga. The match went five sets with Tsonga just barely able to edge out Fish for the quarterfinal spot. Although Fish did not make it into the quarters, he still played great tennis and made known to the world that he is not done as a tennis player. His improvements in almost every facet of his game hope to take him into the second week of major tournaments for his future in the game and maybe one day even to a final.
Andy Roddick
And then there was Roddick, the man who America once thought would be their star. Roddick came into the U.S. Open after battling a summer of injuries which dropped him to the 21st ranked player in the world, the worst ranking he has had since winning his major in 2003. The 29 year old American tennis star was not really expected to make waves in the U.S. Open because of these injuries but in typical Roddick style he set out to prove people wrong.With all of the injuries Roddick began suffering consistently since 2007 and his competition getting younger, Roddick came into the U.S. Open with something to prove and hoping to relive the glory he found eight years ago.
Roddick started off the tournament shaky but after beating two of the up and coming Americans to reach the fourth round, he began to look like the tennis player who just a few years ago went toe-to-toe with Roger Federer in the Wimbledon Final. He then punched his ticket to the quarterfinals with a pretty solid victory over the world number five, David Ferrer.
So with the great success of the American athletes in the U.S. Open including the performance of the two still playing, U.S. tennis is starting to make a resurgence. The USTA may not have found the next Sampras but they are well on their way to making American tennis a force to be reckoned with once again.
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