American Tennis

[Andrew D]

Why? Why should four or five of the top ten female and male players be from the US? More and more countries are getting into the game. It made perfect sense for the US to have huge percentages of top-ten players when relatively few countries were in the game. Now that there are more countries in the game, it makes perfect sense for the US to have smaller percentages of top-ten players. The claim that the proper measure is the US vs. the rest of the world combined comes across as arrogant whining with no basis in reason.

In addition to the sheer number of countries in the game, it seems to me that the countries that have been producing excellent clay-court players for a long time have been producing more and more players who are excellent on other surfaces, whereas the US has lagged an still lags in producing excellent clay-court players. On the women's side, during the entire Open era, the US has produced only one brilliant French Open player: Chris Evert, who won seven of the thirteen titles won by American women. Even the great Martina Navratilova won the French only twice. (As against her three Australian Opens, four US Opens, and nine Wimbledons.) The others -- Nancy Richey, Billie Jean King, Jennifer Capriati, and Serena Williams -- won (or have won) it only once each.

Contrast that against the other majors. Even in the Australian Open (which some of the best Americans did not even bother to play in the years when it was held in December), of the seven American women who have won it during the Open era, four did so more than once. (Chris Evert and Jennifer Capriati twice each, Billie Jean King three times, and Serena Williams five times.)

In the US Open, of the seven American women who have won it during the Open era, all but one (Lindsay Davenport) did so more than once. (Tracy Austin and Venus Williams twice each, Billie Jean King and Serena Williams three times each, Martina Navratilova four times, and Chris Evert six times.)

And at Wimbledon, of the six American women who have won it during the Open era, all but one (Lindsay Davenport) did so more than once. (Chris Evert three times, Billie Jean King and Serena Williams four times each, Venus Williams five times, and Martina Navratilova nine times.)

In short, the US has not been very good at producing top-notch clay-court players. I hope that that will change.

[rubato]

I wonder why there aren't more Indian and Chinese players?

Almost 3 billion people between them and the Chinese have been running factories to select and train Olympic athletes for some time now.



Of course the balls would be smaller, wouldn't they?

yrs,
rubato

[loCAtek]

...oops, sorry!



no, I'm not!

[Andrew D]

But these things come and go.

This may explain most of it. There are good American players now, but the best ones are just a bit shy of winning big tournaments. Part of that is playing in an era where two of the best players ever, Federer and Nadal, totally dominate. In addition, I think there are more countries with good development programs now than in the past, so it is not as easy to make the top 20. Still, it is a low tide of good American players.

Is this is just a statistical ebb and flow? I'm not sure. Demographically, we should be seeing a nice surge of top talent as the Baby Echo generation hits its athletic maturity. At a time when we would expect a rise in the number of top American players, we are actually seeing a substantial retreat.

Every country, not just the US, has ebbs and flows. When American players are doing well, and other countries' players are not doing so well, America ends up with a high percentage of top-ranked players. But if when American players are doing well, other countries' players are also doing well, we see a different result.

But it really is far more about individual players than about countries. Assuming that I have read the records correctly, in the Open era, Swiss players have won twenty-one majors, sixteen men's and five women's. German players have won twenty-nine majors, twenty-two women's and seven men's. Argentine players have won five majors, all men's. Czech women have won five majors, as have Spanish women, Belgian women have won ten majors, and Australian women have won twenty majors.

No, wait. One Swiss man (Roger Federer) has won sixteen majors, and one Swiss woman (Martina Hingis) won five majors. No other Swiss player has ever won a major.

One German woman (Steffi Graf) won twenty-two majors, and one German man (Boris Becker) won six majors. The only other German player to win a major (Michael Stich) won only one.

One Argentine player (Guillermo Vilas) won four majors. The only other Argentine player to win a major (Juan Martin del Potro) has won only one.

Of the five majors won by Czech women, Hana Mandlikova won four. Of the five majors won by Spanish women, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario won four. Of the ten majors won by Belgian women, Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters have won all ten. Of the twenty majors won by Australian women, Margaret Court and Evonne Goolagong Cawley won eighteen.

I am sure that countries' development programs play a role, but I guess that there are some sexist countries in international tennis: Swedish men have won twenty-five majors, but no Swedish woman has ever won a major; Belgian women have won ten majors, but no Belgian man has ever won a major; and Argentine men have won five majors, but no Argentine woman has ever won a major.

On the men's side, America is its longest drought of the Open era: Not since 2003 has an American man won a major. But on the women's side, America is doing pretty well: During the drought years on the men's side (2004-2010), American women won ten majors, more than any other country.

Leave the flags at home and just watch the tennis.

[Gob]

I can't stand tennis myself. All the courts look the same, it's all slam and grunt, not appealing aesthetically.

[dales]

.... it's all slam and grunt, not appealing aesthetically.

Buy her breakfast in the morning, that's the ticket!

[rubato]

I can't stand tennis myself. All the courts look the same, it's all slam and grunt, not appealing aesthetically.

I dunno.

It does have something going for it:

[rubato]

Oh yeah, this is the one:




Love that feral look on her face.

[loCAtek]

[Andrew D]

I can't stand tennis myself. All the courts look the same, it's all slam and grunt, not appealing aesthetically.

Clay courts and grass courts and hard courts all look the same? If you wear glasses, you should get your prescription checked. If you do not, you should consider it.

All slam? Have you never seen a drop shot? A backhand slice? A lob?

The grunt is unappealling. Its commonness is of rather recent vintage, and there are moves afoot to get rid of it.

[Long Run]

Since the new rackets, there is a lot less finesse and a lot more power, and new angles that were not possible with the old rackets. Nice to see a non-Federer/Nadal winner.

[Guinevere]

A lot less finesse? Have you seen my Swiss boyfriend play?

I was up and watching the men's final by 5 on Sunday morning. I should have stayed in bed and slept, it would have been more exciting. How many GS finals has Murray gone now without winning a single set? Three?

[Andrew D]

Yes, three. And I agree with Long Run: There is "a lot less finesse" than there used to be. Sure, there is still finesse; the nature of the game demands it. But the relative importance of power has been steadily rising, and the relative importance of finesse has been correspondingly declining. I remember when it was common to see matches in which most of the points were played at the net. Those days are long gone.

[Gob]

A lot less finesse? Have you seen my Swiss boyfriend play?
How many GS finals has Murray gone now without winning a single set? Three?

It's all his mother's fault apparently.

Murray is no different to any other professional tennis player in that he constantly looks to his entourage in the front rows of the stands. When things go awry, as they did so horribly against Novak Djokovic, he seeks reassurance, or familiar faces at which to vent his spleen. In happier times the engagement is about affirmation, drawing on their encouragement to lift his game to a still higher plane.

On Sunday, his interaction with mother Judy and the other members of what tennis players call ''my team'' seemed to drag Murray deeper into a mire from which he never recovered. If the aim was to derive positive energy from his people, he failed as dismally.http://www.smh.com.au/sport/tennis/murr ... 1ab7g.html

[Guinevere]

Isn't it always?

[dgs49]

I think one of the reasons why "finesse" seems to be less important is because the players are quicker and in better condition. A drop shot rarely results in a point anymore because the top players are so damn quick they can not only retrieve it, but hit a cross-court winner with it.

OTOH, amongst me and my geezer friends, a well-executed drop shot can be devastating.

[Gob]

No other American college sport has more international players than tennis. But with tens of millions of dollars in scholarships going to foreign-born players each year, critics argue that the use of non-American athletes has got to be reined in for the good of home-grown students.

Head coach Joey Scrivano is preparing for the biggest tournament of the season. He calls his players simply "kiddo" and his team the "Bears". But a look at the scoreboard tells a bigger story about the Baylor University women's tennis team.

Names like Secerbegovic, Nakic, Stanivuk, Novakova and Filipiak fill the roster for the team from Waco, Texas. Baylor was listed as the top team in the US last spring, but did not have a single American player on the team.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12561534

[Gob]

Another BBC article on the decline of US tennis;

When Andy Roddick was recently asked for the umpteenth time about the apparent decline of tennis in his country, the world number 10 gave a weary response.

"I think we're kind of a victim of our own success over the years in the sport," he said. "If you still stack us up against most countries, we're coming out ahead."

At Wimbledon this year there were no US players in the women's quarter final, and only one man - Mardy Fish - in the last eight.

Tennis has always had a strongly international flavour, but for every Borg, Lendl, Becker or Edberg, there was always a McEnroe, Connors, Sampras or Agassi.



That balance is now shifting away from the US, raising questions for the sport.