Tennis Is Dismal At Best: The Concerning State of the Sport in America

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: February 15, 2011

commentComment        

This year's Australian Open should leave the United States Tennis Association (USTA) more than a little alarmed about the future of American tennis in general and at grand slam tournaments in particular. After the fourth round of play at the year's first major tournament, there remained precisely zero Americans in the field of players vying for either the men's or women's singles titles.

Needless to say, for a country that prides itself on its decadent tennis history, which includes players like Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and Jimmy Connors, such a dismal performance at a tournament that isn't Roland Garros should raise some red flags for American tennis executives, coaches and fans.

Indeed, when the top American man barely makes the top 10 of the ATP rankings, and the top American women struggle to enter tournaments, this type of result is not unexpected.  Take the men's game as an example. Andy Roddick was never, and will never be the same caliber of player as Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer.  What's more is that he is approaching the latter stage of his career, and unless he somehow channels Andre Agassi very soon, he is unlikely to win another grand slam.

The American women's game suffers from a slightly different problem--the absence of its top players from tournaments.  Indeed, both Venus and Serena Williams are among the best women to play the game currently and arguably in history.  The problem for them however, is that they seem to get injured relatively frequently.  To be sure, Serena Williams was absent from this years Australian Open, a tournament she has won a few times and Venus Williams had to withdraw during the tournament.

For the Williams sisters, this is not really a question of ability or age. Rather, its due to their interests in other aspects of their lives. As several commentators have noted, both sisters have diversified their careers with modeling contracts, merchandise ag...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis

Latest News


Comments

Comments are closed.

Sponsors

Bruins Tickets The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

Red Wings Tickets The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League.

Penguins Tickets The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

New York Rangers Tickets play their home games at Madison Square Garden, they are one of the oldest teams in the NHL, having joined in 1926 as an expansion franchise, and are part of the group of teams referred to as the Original Six.

San Jose Sharks Tickets The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California, United States.

Toronto Maple Leafs Tickets The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

New Jersey Devils Tickets The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

Washington Capitals Tickets The Washington Capitals are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C.

Buffalo Sabres Tickets The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League. Get the Sabres and all of your NHL Tickets here.

NASCAR season is on of the most attended sports in the world. NASCAR Tickets to the best tracks is a must every year. Some of these tracks are: Talladega Tickets, Lowes Motor Speedway Tickets, Pocono Raceway Tickets, located in Ridgeway Virginia you have Martinsville Speedway Tickets and southern US you have two of the most popular Atlanta Motor Speedway Tickets and Texas Motor Speedway Tickets. Don't miss all the racing events this year!

Boston Red Sox Tickets The Boston Red Sox are a member of the Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Since 1912, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park. This is one of the hottest MLB Tickets sales of any team in the major league.

New York Yankees Tickets The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the borough of the Bronx, in New York City, New York and are a member of Major League Baseball's American League East Division. Get tickets to one of the hottest games of the season Yankees Red Sox Tickets.

Chicago Cubs Tickets The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League.

Phillies Tickets The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883.

Orioles Tickets The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland.

Do you love wrestling? Get your WWE Tickets and WWE Survivor Series Tickets today!