For the first time since 1973 there is no American man in the top 10 on the ATP tour !

Is it the coaching?--The talent?--The surface on which men learn the game?--Lack of motivation?

My take on it is that US players grow up playing primarily on medium fast hard courts and as a result don't really understand how to best develop a point on surfaces other than that speed court.

European and South American players have their first tennis experience on much slower courts and learn how to use the geometry of the court to twist and turn and degrade the balance of their opponents in their efforts to earn points.

 The american men see the big serve as the Holy Grail ,and theres nothing wrong with the big serve as long as it doesn't subordinate the development of an all court mentality.

   The USTA hired Patrick McEnroe as the head of player development.  He understands the issue and has addressed it by adding more variety to the surfaces up and coming Americans will train on.

The next few US OPEN SERIES events will be played on hard courts but who know what the speed of the surface will be.

Lets hope the UTSA gears the speed of the courts in NYC to the games of  Roddick-Isner-Fish-Harrison Blake and the other Americans that have games suited to quicker courts.

We don't want the US to tumble into 3rd World tennis status!




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