By: Jack Neworth

 With the U.S. Open having finally arrived, and after I looked at the draw, it dawned on me that it’s been a while since an American man has won the Open, or any Grand Slam for that matter. It’s been 9 years, the longest drought in American men’s tennis history, but don’t panic. At least we’re not alone.

  Apparently, for decades, staging a Grand Slam does not bode well for the host country, at least to produce a Men’s Champion. Naturally, the Brits have suffered the longest. (Isn’t that so British?) They’ve gone 76 years (and counting) without a British Champion going back to Fred Perry who won in 1936.  In fact, it had been 74 years since they’d even had a British male finalist until Andy Murray ended that drought this past Wimbledon.

 Next up in the “long-suffering” nation list are the Aussies who’ve gone 36 years since a countryman has won the Australian Open. (In 1976 Mark Edmondson beat fellow Aussie John Newcombe for the title.)

 The next country in the “when’s it our turn” sweepstakes is France, a nation I don’t necessarily identify with patience. (In my one visit to picturesque Paris, I found the French thoroughly beautiful but a tad crabby.)

 Now that I’ve offended the French, I’ll note that it’s been 29 years since a Frenchman has won at Roland Garros. The last was Yannick Noah in 1983. Roland Garros, it turns out, is the name of a famous French aviator who died in WW1.

 Who knew? I always assumed Roland Garros was a fancy section of Paris, their version of Flushing Meadows, perhaps. By that logic, I suppose we’re lucky the U.S. Open isn’t the Eddie Rickenbacker, which is a bit of a tongue twister.

 The point of all this(assuming there is a point) is that in reality our 9-year drought is quite mild compared to other Slam host countries. Maybe losing is just a sign of good manners? After all, what decent host invites everyone to a party and gives himself or herself the best desert?

 And yet, for the good old USA, the country that gave the tennis world the likes of Tilden, Budge, Gonzalez, McEnroe, Connors, Sampras and Agassi, I confess that the current vast wasteland in American men’s tennis is a tad troubling.  So what happened?

 First, with a little help from my friends (okay, Wikipedia) let’s put this American men’s hiatus in perspective with a brief look at the U.S. Open history.  From the opening tournament in 1881 (can you believe that?) Americans dominated, but  of course travel was an obvious factor. But the Brits did compete in our Championships. They even made the Men’s Finals in 1897 with the appearance of Reginald Doherty, often called “Reggie” or “R.F.” (How’s that for British sounding?)

 All the way until 1955 one could say the Open was owned by the American men  until the Australians took over with seven straight championships. But it’s worth noting that the burgeoning professional tour  lured  American players, especially Pancho Gonzalez, making them ineligible for the amateur Slams and left the door open for the Aussies. (I’ve long theorized that had Gonzalez been able to play in the majors he would have dominated for a decade or more.)

 Sure enough, when Open Tennis arrived in 1968, American men returned to the throne, the first being Arthur Ashe. In 1974 Connors won his first of 5 Open titles and in 1979 McEnroe won his first of 4.  There was a mini-drought from 1985-89 but then, in 1990, 19-year-old Pete Sampras arrived. (Followed by Andre Agassi and that tremendous “class” that also included Michael Chang and Jim Courrier.)

 Another mini-drought later, in 2003, 21-year-old American sensation Andy Roddick won the Open with his big serve and swagger.  Ever-optimistic, many predicted a fistful of Slams for Roddick but it was not to be. For one, his timing may have been poor. He arrived on the scene around the same time as a certain fellow named Roger Federer.  But, the truth is, American men’s tennis has been in a decline for the last decade, if not more.

 As reported in the NY Times on May 8, 2011, “For the first time in history there wasn’t an American man in the top 10 computer rankings. And there is no precedent for this in the past century.” Sad but true. At the risk of sounding like a nattering nabob of negativity (for fans of the late Spiro Agnew) in 1990, 23 American men were in the top 100. Now we have 8. (Isner #10, Roddick #21, Fish#24, Querrey #28, Harrison #61, Baker #70, Levine #76 and Rajeev, #98.)
There are many theories as to what has been behind the decline of American men’s tennis. (Perhaps the subject for a future column?) In any event, the odds are probably great that no American man will win the 2012 Open. This will make it 10 years without a Slam. Am I worried?  Look at it this way, that’s 66 years less than the Brits have waited.

Click here to cancel reply.