Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?

Queue the Paula Cole. As Andy Roddick bows out from the fourth-round of the Australian Open over the weekend, he takes the hopes and dreams of all Americans with him. Considering America’s best players are in the woman bracket, Serena and Venus Williams, who are currently both injured, America put all its weight on Roddick’s shoulders. Just like his last match against 19th-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, the weight was too much and he was broken. Besides Roddick’s U.S. Open victory in 2003, no American man has won a major tournament, or even come close. Sure we can blame this on the fact that arguably the best player in the history of the sport is currently playing, (Roger Federer) and Rafael Nadal is also going for his “Rafa Slam” (all four major titles in a row) this tournament.

But let’s be honest, tennis is not America’s past time, nor is it even a focal sport in America. Since Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi retired with their combined 22 Grand Slam singles titles (14 and 8 respectively) and their consistence top 10 rankings, American’s are not even close to these standards. Roddick has one Grand Slam singles title and is currently ranked in the top 10 at number 8. After him the list of potential American threats becomes very thin. Aging Marty Fish is currently 17, Sam Querrey is 18, and big John Isner is 20. The only record any these players hold is for the longest match in tennis history (11 hours 5 minutes) in which John Isner amassed 113 aces and beat Nicolas Mahut 6-3, 3-6, 6-7, 7-6, 70-68 at Wimbledon last year.

Tennis is a sport where the favorite usually wins. The rankings are fairly accurate. Major “upsets” really only occur when an elite player is returning from an injury and their ranking is currently not high. Meaning, the American men besides Roddick do not really stand a chance. The days of Conners, McEnroe, Sampras, and Agassi are done. At this point is looks as if the Americans will have to wait for a new generation of young players to resurrect the American tennis standard. These current players are just not getting the job done. Roddick is not getting any younger, and the chances of grabbing another title keep slipping away.

A youthful resurgence of the sport could be exactly what this country needs if it wants to be a legitimate international contender again on the Grand Slam level. Unfortunately the USA only has one ranked junior players in the world right now, Bjorn Fratangelo. But with all individual sports, it only takes one. For now, we will have to settle for the under publicized doubles team of Bryan/Bryan who are currently the number 1 ranked doubles players in the world and are currently in the Semi Finals at the Australian Open.