The always-dedicated American Andy Roddick is still out there reaching Grand Slam semis at the age 26. At the elderly tennis age of 29, the forever-hopeful James Blake continues to hover around the top 15.
But in this Nadal and Federer dominated universe, there is little room for backup singers and with the Spaniard and the Swiss having combined for 19 of the past 23 Slams, Roddick and Blake’s efforts at improving may be admirable, but are looking nearly fruitless.
Give Roddick great credit for being resilient, for consistently trying to improve and for banging his head on the top 5 door again and again, despite facing a slew of talented up and comers since he briefly reached No. 1 in ‘03. Blake has also attempted to add more to his game and should be given credit for improving his backhand a good 80 percent and for becoming a feared attacking player, but he’s been stubborn in making a major move in order to take the next step and unlike Roddick – who has changed coaches time and time again – he has stubbornly maintained the same coach who tutored him as a junior, Brian Barker. Keeping the same loyal coach and friend throughout his pro career might make Blake more comfortable, but Barker has still yet to get a Slam semi out of his student.
According to Pete Sampras, Roddick and Blake are essentially past the point where they can be consistent impact players at the highest levels. “Andy probably, with a little more fire power, has the ability to contend for a major, if not win one, because he can just sort of get hot at a Wimbledon or a U.S. Open and serve some guys off the court,” Pete observed. “But we’ve seen that you need a little bit more than just a huge powerful serve. He needs to add a little to his game, try to come in a little bit more. It’s easier said than done. I think they’re in good shape. But you look at Nadal and Roger, they have this extra gear, and they can play great with a lot less energy than James and Andy. It’s unfair [to Roddick and Blake] to be compared to [our] generation of the ‘90s. People want those guys to be up with Roger and Nadal. Let’s face facts; those guys are better players. We’re not at that echelon of the game. They are consistently better players. They’ve got to face facts and accept that Roger and Nadal are the two best in the world, and [Andy] Murray and the rest are sort of in the same boat.“
Now retired and more comfortable in his own skin, Sampras is more outspoken than before, as he doesn’t have to face the boys after delivering candid opinions. Roddick and Blake might not like what they are hearing, but Sampras, who taped and intently watched Nadal’s extraordinary five-set win over Federer in the Australian Open final, didn’t bother to watch Roddick’s semi loss to Federer, which ran his record to 2-16 against the Swiss.
“I know what happened without seeing it,” Sampras said. “Roger just gets his serve back and he says, ‘Let’s run.’ He’s better on the run and is a better athlete. Roddick has the power but it’s a bad match-up for him. They play similar games but Roger is that much more efficient; he’s more talented. Roddick would rather play Nadal. In three out of five sets on a hardcourt outdoors it’s tough. Indoors two out of three on a fast court Roddick might be able to blow him off the court if he’s serving huge, but Roger is just a little bit better. As much as Roddick and Blake would like to be one and two in the world and contending for majors, I think they’ve accepted that consistently they can’t quite play at that level for 10 months of the year.”
Usually, right after the Australian Open up until the French Open when there is a four-month gap in between majors, a nation’s up and comers begin to strut their stuff. Yet behind Roddick, Blake and their respectable but not great generation which also includes Mardy Fish and Robby Ginepri, there is a black hole the size of Nadal’s space-sucking forehand.
No one in high U.S. tennis circles can point to any US junior boy or young pro and say he’s the next Fed or Nadal, much less Roddick or Blake, who even if they are a long stride behind the great ones, at least own occasional victories over them. U.S. Player Development just might be stuck with arguably the least promising generation of young pros in 40-plus years of the Open Era.
There is one young man, 21-year-old Southern Californian Sam Querrey, who has been making decent progress, reaching the final of Auckland and the semis of Memphis. He’s tied his career high ranking at No. 34, but also took some puzzling early losses at the Aussie Open, San Jose and Delray Beach.
The 6-foot-6 free swinger knows that if he’s going to become an impact player, he has to get quicker and improve his all around game. “Hopefully, I can be in conversation later in the year and by U.S. Open Series,’ Querrey said. “It would be great to be in top 20 by then and then have a legitimate chance to go really deep at the U.S. Open and get my picture on that bus.”
The towering John Isner, all of 6-foot-9, had a rough 2008 and start to 2009, and came into Indian Wells at No. 147, but showed what consistent big serving and sure handed volleying could do for him, upsetting Gael Monfils and Marat Safin.
“With our guys you just want to see them do well on a consistent basis,’ Roddick said. “It’s great if they’re having a good week. You want to start seeing it every week. It’s great for John. There’s no question that he has the game big enough. I’m glad to see that he’s playing more aggressively. For him to hit and stay back I think he needs to go out there and go for it.”
After Querrey, the floor begins to fall off, with a collection of spotty young performers including Wayne Odesnik at No. 93, Jesse Levine at No. 129 and Donald Young at No. 146.
“Each country goes through cycles,” says Sampras. “But it’s pretty thin after Querrey. American media and fans want to see the best and be a part of it.”
Blake has seen plenty of hotshot youngsters arrive in the past year from foreign soils – among them seventh ranked Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina, No. 19 Marin Cilic of Croatia and the talented Latvian teen, Ernests Gulbis. When true up and comers are discussed, these are the ones that first come to mind. “Everyone of them is enormous,” said Blake. “Del Potro is 6-foot-6. Gulbis looks like 6-2 to 6-3. Cilic is 6-4 to 6-5. They hit their growth spurts pretty young. They already look like men and developing early will give you an advantage to compete at this level. At 18 or 19, if you put me against Del Porto or Gulbis, you would have laughed. I was 150 pounds. It wouldn’t have been fair. It took me longer and maybe will take some of our guys longer. The other guys are freaks, but in a positive way. They are impressive. They are one in a million type of athletes.”
American men tend to be pretty supportive of their peers, so it’s no surprise that they aren’t incredibly disturbed by the fact that of the top 10 U.S. guys, only two are under the age of 26. They are getting used to a Brave New World where the top four men are a Spanish, Swiss, Serbian (Novak Djokovic) and Scottish (Andy Murray).
“With the depth and so many players from small countries coming up who are contenders, it’s never been like that before,” Blake said. “It’s tough to have the dominance we’ve had and it takes longer to develop now because the game has become much more physical. Sam is developing great and should be an excellent player very soon. This will be a big year for him. I don’t want to put pressure on the young guys, especially one as happy-go-lucky as Sam, but he’s so relaxed that it won’t effect him. Donald is also still young and I think Sam and Donald will be able to compete with the other guys very soon. I just hope that any of them don’t feel the pressure of being the next Andy, me, Sampras or Agassi. They don’t need that.”
(Read part 1 of April’s cover story: “Has American Tennis Become Too Soft?“)
