American tennis is on a downslide with no breakthrough performances

John Isner is not consistent at the highest level

Tennis world dominated by Non-Americans at the moment

Once a potent force in men’s tennis, USA seems to have lost out on their supremacy in the sport at the Global stage for some time now. With the change in the millennium, there has been a change in guard. Europe leapfrogged to the top and have safeguarded their position of dominance in men's tennis for almost a decade .The BIG FOUR of tennis namely Swiss Ace Roger Federer, the Spaniard Rafael Nadal, Serb Novak Djokovic and Scotsman Andy Murray all hail from European nations.

If I may be allowed to extend my list to players who have been ranked consistently in the top 10 ATP rankings (2007-2013), then David Ferrer & Nicolas Almagro(Spain),Juan Martin Del Potro (Argentina),Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic), Jo Wilfred Tsonga and Gilles Simon (France) all are non-Americans. Statistically speaking, it's been more than a decade (2003 to be precise) since a US player (Andy Roddick) won a Grand Slam (US Open 2003) or ascended to the number one position in the World. That sums up the bleak story of American tennis for quite some time now.

The golden era of American tennis

Right from the beginning of the Open Era (1969), USA has been blessed with quality tennis players who went onto become champions and dominated the game in their own time. If the seventies had Arthur Ashe and Stan Smith, the Eighties had Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe who had a healthy rivalry among them for the top spot and racked up a few Grand Slams. The Americans blossomed on the tour with Brad Gilbert, Vitas Gerulaitis, Rascoe Tanner, Harold Solomon, Brian Teacher, Cliff Richey, Gene Mayer, Eddie Dibbs and Aaron Krickstein who were very good singles players during those two decades.

When I was growing up in the 90s, we had a strong US Contingent which served the nation with honor and distinction both in the Davis Cup and the ATP tour .Leading the charge was Pete Sampras who was arguably one of the best tennis players of his generation racking up a record fourteen Grand Slams and making Wimbledon his forte. Then we had the mercurial and flamboyant Andre Agassi who had his share of highs and lows, but eventually ended up winning all the Grand Slams, a feat very few champions have achieved. Talk about fighting spirit and competitiveness, Micheal Chang was second to none with his small frame but heart of a lion!

The American of Chinese ethnicity gave it all to win titles on the ATP circuit. One should not forget Todd Martin and Malvia Washington who were top 20 players at their own peak. Add to that illustrious list, the likes of Jeff Tarango, David Wheaton, Vincent Spadea,Richey Reneberg and Chris Woodruff who all did decently well on the tour. But the true American era started with Jim Courier who made his presence felt by taking on the likes of Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg in the beginning of the 90s and winning a few grand slams too.

Current crop of players disappoint

Once this golden generation of the 90s left the scene, talent kept on pouring with Andy Roddick paving the way for a new American era at the turn of the century. A Powerful server with potent groundstrokes, Roddick excelled on hard courts of North America and the grass of Wimbledon. He was undone by Roger Federer at Majors who was playing the tennis of his life during that time frame .The Americans also had Mardy Fish, Taylor Dent, Jan Micheal Gambill, Sam Querrey and James Blake who proved their worth by winning a few titles on the tour.

Once these guys left, all hopes turned to the tall and lanky big serving John Isner who looks to be a real threat on fast synthetic courts and has managed to break into the Top 10 early in his career. The Americans currently have Ryan Harrison, Donald Young, Steve Johnson and Jack Sock who are part of a decent young brigade, good in their own right,but none of them promise to go a step ahead to get into the league of Champions or attain the legend's status.

The downfall of American tennis can be attributed to youngsters in the US taking onto to other professional sports like Basketball, American Football, Golf, Athletics and Baseball in a big way to earn a more lucrative career money wise. There are talks that the talent is just not coming through in the tennis academies across the US which have been breeding grounds for producing champions all the way. Both concerns should be addressed at the earliest, else the slump shall continue which could leave American tennis in dire straits.

As an ardent tennis fan, we are surely waiting for the next big thing from the US who can inspire a generation to take to the sport and bring back honor and glory to the US, which was synonymous to them for a long time.