The American dream turns into a nightmare

General / Editor / 25 February 2007 / Leave a Comment

Jimmy Connors' record of 160 consecutive weeks at World No 1 comes to an end on Monday when Roger Federer clocks up 161 weeks at the top as he heads for the Middle East in a bid to win back the Dubai Open title he lost last year to Rafael Nadal.

Connors' record run began on July 29, 1974 - but his eclipse in the record books is just another piece of American dominance being eroded away.

Even more damning, there are just 10 USA players in the top 100 and only one of them has a Grand Slam title to his name - world No 4 Andy Roddick. The 6ft 2in star from Omaha was world No 1 in November 2003 - and then Federer burst on to the scene.

Not one American is playing in the big Dubai event this week and just two American players -Roddick and James Blake - figure in the world's top 20. Only four make it into the world top 50 with Mardy Fish at 25 and Robbie Ginepri at 46.

At 24, Roddick has to carry the brunt of it as the Stars and Stripes try to lift their flagging fortunes, and his 6-3 7-6 win over Britain's Andy Murray yesterday took him into the final of the Regions Morgan Keegan Championship in Memphis.

Roddick is trading at1.67 with Betfair to win the Memphis final when he meets Tommy Haas, after the holder beat Fish 6-3 6-4 in the last four.

Roddick is the USA's main man and their only current major winner with a US Open title in 2003. But since then he has only managed a runner-up spot in the US Open in 2006 and runner-up at Wimbledon in 2004 and 2005.

It could have been a different story but for that man Federer, who is dominating the world game in a way not even Connors did. The Australian Open was his 10th major title already - and he is only 25. He has 46 titles and 13 runners-up slots already under his belt.

But of course in Connors' era, he had support around him in the shape of players of the calibre of Wimbledon, Australian and twice US Open champion Arthur Ashe, a certain John McEnroe and a supporting cast including Vitas Gerulaitis and the huge-serving man from Lookout Mountain, Roscoe Tanner.

Take a glance at the records of the American players of the last 40 years:
• From 1968 to 1978 Ashe won 33 titles and was a runner-up in 33 others, winning Wimbledon once (outplaying Connors in the 1975 final), Australia once and the US Open twice.
• From 1972 to 1989 Connors won 109 career titles, including winning Australia once, Wimbledon twice and the US five times.
• From 1974 to 1981 Roscoe Tanner won 15 titles, lifting one Australian Open.
• From 1978 to 1991 John McEnroe won 77 titles, including three Wimbledons and four US Opens.
• From 1978 to 1984 Vitas Gerulaitis won 27 titles and played in another 28 finals, winning the Australian Open title.
• From 1987 to 2005 Andre Agassi won 60 titles and was a runner-up 30 times. His wins included four Australians, one French, one Wimbledon and two US titles
• From 1988 and 2000 Michael Chang won 34 titles, including one French title.
• From 1989 to 1998 Jim Courier won 23 titles, including two Australian and two French titles
• And from 1990 to 2002 Pete Sampras won 64 titles and reached 24 other finals. His wins included two Australians, seven Wimbledons (in eight years) and five US opens.

The list shows the strength in depth, and that's not even mentioning regular tour winners like Harold Solomon, Eddie Dibbs and even Andy Murray's coach, the wily Brad Gilbert.

Compare that with Roddick - by far the most successful of the current Americans. He has 21 titles and 12 runners-up to his name and is the only one to have won a major.

Blake's best in the majors is two US Open quarter-finals in 2005 and 2006 and he has only nine singles titles to his name following his first win in Washington in 2002. His rapid improvement into the world's top six over the last year doesn't mean he can't improve on those stats but to do that he is going to have to get the better of Roddick, Nadal and, of course, Federer.

Of the others Ginepri's best effort in a major came in reaching the US Open semi-finals in 2005. But he still only has two singles titles to his name, one in 2003 and one in 2005.

Fish also has just two titles to his name, while of the other six in the top 100 only Vince Spadea has won a title. That was at Scottsdale in 2002 and at 32 it is hard to see him adding to that.

The one big bright spot amid all this frustration for the Americans is that they do have the world's best doubles pair in the Bryan twins, Mike and Bob, who retained their Australian Open title in January.

But there is one rising star coming along with the potential to join Roddick and Blake in the battle to recapture some of the American glory days.

Sam Querrey is, like Britain's Andy Murray, still only 19 and he is the USA's 10th player in the top 100 at No 92. The 6ft 6in right-hander from San Francisco has yet to win a title on the ATP Tour but he is making solid strides.

He is a hard court player with a big serve and forehand and rocketed from 600 in the rankings to 150 in 2006, his first year as a professional. He is clearly on the up and up.

In the Australian Open he reached the third round before losing to world No 7 Tommy Robredo, having beaten Argentina's world No 41 Jose Acasuso in four sets and then France's world No 67 Florent Serra in straight sets

In San Jose two weeks ago he beat fellow American Paul Goldstein 6-2 6-1 - and Goldstein is ranked No 74 - before losing to Roddick in straight sets. And in the current Memphis tournament he reached the quarter-finals before losing to Haas 6-2 6-2.