Where are the American tennis players?
A quick look at the ATP world tennis rankings and I was shocked. There are only four American women in the top 100 players that are ranked. Fortunately two are in the top five. And of course it’s everyone’s favorite grand slam sibling duo, Venus and Serena Williams. Serena sits at number two in the world, second only to Russia’s Dinara Safina. Venus is ranked at number three in the world.
But after the Williams sisters you will be hard pressed to find another American female tennis player who is ranked for awhile. Bethanie Mattek is number 52. Jilly Craybas is 88.
The rest are non- American tennis players. Which of course is fine, tennis is an international sport, but there is hardly any American presence anymore when it comes to the females.
There are only eight American men ranked in the top 100 tennis players as well. The highest ranked male is Andy Roddick who sits at number six in the world. James Blake is number 16. Mardy Fish is number 25. Sam Querrey is number 46. Robert Kendrick is number 76. Kevin Kim in number 87. Bobby Reynolds is 91. And Vincent Spaeda is 98.
The thing is nowadays the American tennis players just simply do not stand out like they used to. Remember the days of John McEnroe’s tirades? Or what about Andre Agassi’s crazy hair? Or Pete Sampras and all of his wins?
America used to be well represented on the tennis court. Today the story is different. It’s all about Nadal defending his Wimbledon title or Federer trying to win more majors than Pete Sampras.
Wimbledon 2009 is fast approaching and there really isn’t an American to root for. I wish Andy Roddick would reclaim his former glory and give Americans another crack at the title.
And the Williams sisters are of course always promising.
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Tags: Andy Roddick, Rafael Nadal, Serena WIlliam, tennis, Venus Williams, wimbledon