Is the USTA Player Development Program getting the job done?
A quick look at the January 6 ATP rankings shows that 32 countries have players ranked in the top 100. They are:
- Spain 14 players
- France 11 players
- Germany 8 players
- USA 8 players
- Argentina 6 players
- Russia 5 players
- Australia 4 players
- Czechoslovakia 4 players
- Columbia 3 players
- Croatia 3 players
- Italy 3 players
- Kazakhstan 3 players
- The Netherlands 3 players
- Poland 3 players
- Serbia 3 players
- Canada 2 players
- Switzerland 2 players
- 15 countries have 1 player
Tennis is an international sport, but the combined total of ranked players from Croatia, Kazakhstan, and Serbia is greater than the U.S. total.
A closer look at the men’s rankings shows the following for the American men:
- 14 John Isner
- 46 Sam Querrey
- 89 Tim Smyczek
- 91 Michael Russell
- 95 Bradley Klahn
- 96 Donald Young
- 99 Ryan Harrison
- 100 Jack Sock.
If you asked 1,000 people to name the top American male tennis players in the U.S., they most likely couldn’t name one of these individuals. In fairness to the USTA, part of the problem is the popularity of tennis in many foreign countries. Some in tennis also feel that the best American athletes play sports other than tennis. Still others will say that American youth lack the work ethic to be world class tennis players.
These factors play a part in the lack of dominant American tennis players; however, the major source of the problem is USTA Player Development. Pancho Gonzalez, Jack Kramer, and Arthur Ashe have to be rolling over in their graves at the state of American men’s tennis.