History Made: Roddick Drops Leaving No American Men in ATP Top 10 for First Time

August 6th, 2010

History Made: Roddick Drops Leaving No American Men in ATP Top 10 for First Time
by Tom Gainey

History will be made on Monday and for American tennis it’s not good. According to the ATP when the new rankings are issued on Monday, August 9, there will be no American men in the Top 10 for the very first time since the inception of the rankings on August 23, 1973.

This record comes as Andy Roddick, who is currently ranked No. 9, will fall out of the Top 10 after his loss yesterday evening to Gilles Simon in Washington.

Roddick speculated of physical issues after the match leaving his defense of his Toronto semifinal points in jeopardy. He’ll undergo to further evaluate his health.

The struggling Roddick was last outside of the Top 10 the week of August 14, 2006. It’s worth saying that he later went on to win Cincinnati and reach the US Open final that season.

However, it’s been 27 Grand Slams since an American man last won a Major when Roddick claimed the 2003 US Open. And Monday marks another lowpoint in American tennis history.

But the US men have been through downcycles before.

Most notably at the end of the John McEnroe/Jimmy Connors generation in the mid-1980s. But Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Michael Chang and Jim Courier quickly took the reigns and brought American tennis to even greater heights in the 90s.

Then again in the early 2000s with Sampras and Agassi waning, questions were asked of the future. Yet again, a new star named Andy Roddick, came into prominence just in time.

Now, with Roddick, who’ll be 28 at the end of the month, clearly on the downslope of his career who’ll carry the American flag going forward?

Can John Isner sustain his upward ranking climb? Will Sam Querrey breakthrough at a big event? Is it too late for the improving Mardy Fish? And is there any future in Donald Young, Ryan Harrison, Chase Buchanan, etc? I posed this question in my first post in February.

With this historic ranking on Monday, the sorry state of American men’s tennis will unfortunately become a heavy storyline and a topic of debate the rest of this summer swing right through the US Open.

Here’s hoping that someone steps up.

Also Check Out:
Serena Drops, Federer Drops Knowledge; X-Notes
Andy Roddick: I Won’t Go Mental Again, Book It
U.S. Davis Cup Hopes Rest with Roddick Against Russia
Federer Beats Roddick in Marathon Wimbledon Final
Scott Leaving WTA CEO Position to Head NCAA PAC-10 Conference

Filed under: American tennis, ATP
Tags: Andy Roddick, Rankings

19 Comments for History Made: Roddick Drops Leaving No American Men in ATP Top 10 for First Time

jane Says:

My bet is on Sam to carry the torch. But Roddick’s not done yet. Something must be up. Hope he is okay health-wise. These players travel so much, encounter so many different climates, germs, etc, it’s amazing more of them aren’t ailing from time-to-time. Different constitutions, and a lot of sweating on the courts, probably help but still. I hate to see any players injured or ill.

August 6th, 2010 at 2:06 pm

grendel Says:

Americans doing generally poorly is bad news for tennis. D’you see how empty the stands are for Berdych/Malisse? No Americans left – the Americans have a history of not being prepared to watch foreigners. Is this a fair statement? Or is the problem more that Americans are not generally very interested in tennis compared to other sports? Tennis without America – and Australia, long in the doldrums – seems diminished to me.

August 6th, 2010 at 2:08 pm

joe Says:

my prediction, roddick has mono

August 6th, 2010 at 9:43 pm

Von Says:

Americans are all about baseball, football, applie pie and Chevrolet. All others, e.g., tennis, please get on line. In order of priority, the line begins here = baseball ………….. ……………………..
……………… ends here = tennis.

_________________
joe: I need to tell roddick that he should stop kissing Fed. LOL.

August 6th, 2010 at 10:02 pm

kimberly Says:

Will roddick pull out of toronto? My guess is he will.

August 6th, 2010 at 11:08 pm

margot Says:

von: :) . In UK it’s football, football, football, then all other sports get in line, tennis at end!

August 7th, 2010 at 2:26 am

WTF Says:

“However, it’s been 27 Grand Slams since an American man last won a Major when Roddick claimed the 2003 US Open.”

I hadn’t really thought of this point. American men have dominated tennis in past decades. This is pretty bleak. Roddick has the tools to win more than one major, but had the misfortune of playing in the same era as the greatest player ever. The rest of the Americans are not quite of the same level as Sampras, Agassi, Courier, McEnroe, Connors et al.

August 7th, 2010 at 3:18 am

grendel Says:

margot – except for Wimbledon fortnight, when the nation seems to go tennis mad (providing side dishes like the world cup aren’t on display..)

August 7th, 2010 at 4:21 am

madmax Says:

Firstly, I don’t think that roddick is “over” (reading the hungry mad press). It makes me scream when I read that a player is going through a toughie and all of a sudden he is written off. That goes for rafa, federer, roddick, novak. I wish journalists would get a grip!

Roddick is the kind of person who is a fighter. It won’t take him long to move back up the rankings. Perhaps his mind has been on other things – a little – his wife is in a new film with Jennifer Anniston and he has been pictured on set – should he be there or on the practice courts?

As for UK sport. Apart from football, (we do get a rest though Margot/grendel), after all the prem league doesn’t start up for another 2 weeks, and inbetween we have the glorious barcelona/diamond league, stockholm athletics, which is BIG in the UK,- athletics that is – plus rugby and cricket – tennis IS on the up – evidence (apart from wimbledon) – sellout 02 WTF tournament last year, 17,000 seats gone. Brilliant. Will be the same or thereabouts this year – I think tennis is stronger than it has ever been, along with rugby and cricket. very british!

August 7th, 2010 at 7:35 am

raul Says:

Del Potro still in the Top Ten. Inaccurate terminology = rubbish article

August 7th, 2010 at 12:08 pm

Huh Says:

“joe: I need to tell roddick that he should stop kissing Fed. LOL.”

Lol Mrs.Von! ;)

August 7th, 2010 at 1:26 pm

Huh Says:

MAXI!!! :P

Wonderful post @ 7.35am! :) :P
May I add: Truly British??!! :D ;)

August 7th, 2010 at 1:29 pm

Von Says:

margot: Are we talking about Association Football? LOL. But of course that has to take precedence over everything. I remember that cricket was also very much up there during my school years in your genteel land. Rugby is similar to American Football.And, soccer (football to you) is also catching one her in the US in a big way. Of course, we have your Mr. Beckham, don’t we?

August 7th, 2010 at 5:29 pm

Jake Willens Says:

Sad, but so darn impressive that A Rod has stayed in for 7 years. Shows how consistent and classy and workman-like he is.

August 7th, 2010 at 5:31 pm

Von Says:

Jake: Roddick will be back in the Top 10 very soon. He has opportunities galore to make up points post USO, but he always seems to shut down then. His mistake was taking so much time off after Miami, and then he unfortunately contracted a virus. He’ll be back. I’m not a betting person, but I’ll bet on that for sure — it ain’t over, till it’s over, or the fat lady sings.

August 7th, 2010 at 5:37 pm

Dan Martin Says:

The bad news is that this overshadows a pretty nice year for U.S. men in tennis. Isner had the history making match at Wimbledon and a few solid showings. Querrey has won 4 titles on 4 surfaces in 2010 – Indoor at Memphis, hard court at LA, grass at Queen’s Club and (red) clay at Serbia. Roddick won Miami and was runner-up at Indian Wells. Fish won back-to-back events in Newport and Atlanta and was runner-up at Queen’s Club. This is a lot better than many years in terms of depth and high lights. Still, Roddick who had held down the fort for top 10 rankings after the Agassi-Sampras retirements is going to be out of the top 10 and Isner, Querrey and Fish while all looking like legit top 20/30 players right now are not really top 10 guys yet/ever so things look bad even when they have been pretty good for US men in 2010.

August 8th, 2010 at 12:59 am

margot Says:

von: keep forgetting you spent formative years in UK. Yes, at the mo. other sports are getting some coverage eg. a very exciting English cricket team is putting the Pakistan team to the sword and our athletes have done very well thank you. But I know this is just fleeting interest because a huge dark shadow looms and it’s the football season, which seems to last at least 60 weeks of the year..!
Too many spoilt prima donnas, too much money, too much bling, too many professional fouls etc. etc. Of course, these days it’s a major, international, money spinning industry these days, like no other sport. End of rant!!

August 8th, 2010 at 2:20 am

margot Says:

PS hope your Andy does not have mono, cos that’s a horrible long-lasting virus, not nice.

August 8th, 2010 at 2:22 am

jane Says:

Dan Martin, your post is sadly and ironically very true! It had been a good year for the US players, but Andy R falling out of the top ten, if however briefly, will probably overshadow that in the media. : /

It’ll be interesting to see if Andy still plays Toronto; I know he is in the draw, but if he is not feeling well, maybe some rest and less travel would be good?

Side note: I read at the Ticker than Annacone is with Fed in Toronto and will be coaching him there.

August 8th, 2010 at 11:28 am

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