The Open era of tennis began in 1968 and with it came more good players from a variety of countries. This can be seen in the chart below which is a sample of the number of players by country in five-year increments who reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.
In 1970 the Australian Men’s Open featured 4 Aussies, 2 Americans, 1 Brit, and 1 Dutch player. Five years later (1975) the quarterfinalists included 6 Aussies, an American, and a Russian. In 1980 there were 4 Americans, 3 Aussies, and 1 Argentinean. During the 1970s and early 1980s, the Americans and Australians dominated tennis.
Fast forward to 2000, 2010, and 2015. In those three years each of the quarterfinalists was from different countries.
A closer look at the data shows the United States had the greatest number of quarterfinalists, 19; however, 15 of them made the top 8 prior to 2000. The results reflect the lack of production from the USTA Player Development program in recent years.
Australia went through a dry spell in player development similar to what is currently happening in the U.S. For this sample, they had the second highest number of players, 15, in this snapshot. Most of the quarterfinalists from Down Under played in 1970, 1975, or 1980.
For additional details on the Australian Open go to its website, http://www.ausopen.com/.
