American Men On Verge of History, Zero Top 30 Players

[jimlosaltos]

I believe when Monday's ATP rankings are released, there won't be a single American player in the top 30 ranked tour players.

Multiple sources claim this will be the first time in history, since the global rankings were initially tabulated in 1973, that no Americans are in the top 30.

Today, Taylor Fritz ranks 30, but I believe he'll be passed by Basilashvili, who picked up points in the Madrid qualies.

Years ago, during a prior surge of disquiet about US pro tennis, Jim Courier said, as I best remember, "The program is fine. It's the players." I'll just leave that one there.

Top US ATP Players May 8th

Ranking Player Age Points
30 Taylor Fritz 23 1,855
39 John Isner 36 1,550
46 Reilly Opelka 23 1,417
58 Tommy Paul 23 1,111
63 Tennys Sandgren 29 1,035
64 Sam Querrey 33 1,028
65 Sebastian Korda 20 1,027
66 Frances Tiafoe 23 1,008
86 Steve Johnson 31 895
91 Marcos Giron 27 847

And there are the overall rankings today (Sunday)


Top 30 ATP May 8th



Ranking Player Age Points
1 Novak Djokovic 33 11,963
2 Rafael Nadal 34 9,810
3 Daniil Medvedev 25 9,700
4 Dominic Thiem 27 8,365
5 Stefanos Tsitsipas 22 7,910
6 Alexander Zverev 24 6,125
7 Andrey Rublev 23 6,000
8 Roger Federer 39 5,875
9 Diego Schwartzman 28 3,765
10 Matteo Berrettini 25 3,493
11 Roberto Bautista Agut 33 3,090
12 Pablo Carreno Busta 29 3,015
13 David Goffin 30 2,840
14 Denis Shapovalov 22 2,820
15 Gael Monfils 34 2,748
16 Hubert Hurkacz 24 2,600
17 Grigor Dimitrov 29 2,576
18 Jannik Sinner 19 2,524
19 Milos Raonic 30 2,495
20 Felix Auger-Aliassime 20 2,418
21 Stan Wawrinka 36 2,358
22 Casper Ruud 22 2,340
23 Karen Khachanov 24 2,280
24 Alex de Minaur 22 2,235
25 Cristian Garin 24 2,215
26 Daniel Evans 30 2,140
27 Aslan Karatsev 27 2,087
28 Fabio Fognini 33 2,048
29 Borna Coric 24 1,880
30 Taylor Fritz 23 1,855


And here is the "Race to Turin" (or current year points only) standings as of today, May 8th.

Every one of them is European, 5 are either Russian or of Russian heritage (6 o 7 if either Basilashvili of Georgia or Bublik of Kazakhstan has any Russian roots).

Ranking Player Age Points
1 Stefanos Tsitsipas 22 2,840
2 Andrey Rublev 23 2,490
3 Novak Djokovic 33 2,320
4 Daniil Medvedev 25 2,130
5 Aslan Karatsev 27 1,505
6 Hubert Hurkacz 24 1,440
7 Jannik Sinner 19 1,220
8 Alexander Zverev 24 1,070
9 Rafael Nadal 34 1,040
10 Roberto Bautista Agut 33 900
11 Casper Ruud 22 765
12 Matteo Berrettini 25 755
13 Nikoloz Basilashvili 29 665
14T Alexander Bublik 23 660
14T Pablo Carreno Busta 29 660


And, if you're looking to the future, the US has 3 players in the running for the "Race to Milan", the year-end tourney for top players 21 years old or less.

Sebastian Korda is the highest ranked US player in this list, The 20 yo son of Petr Korda is ranked 65 overall. (click his name in blue for profile)

Race to Milan (21 and under)

Ranking Country Player Age Points

1 Italy Jannik Sinner 19 1,220

2 Canada Felix Auger-Aliassime 20 565

3 USA Sebastian Korda 20 495

4 Italy Lorenzo Musetti 19 450

5 ARG Juan Manuel Cerundolo 19 368

6 USA Jenson Brooksby 20 302

7 CZE Tomas Machac 20 213

8 ESP Carlos Alcaraz 17 199

9 ARG Sebastian Baez 20 182

10 USA Brandon Nakashima 19 178

#

[stroke]

That is something, 1st since 1973.

[stotty]

It never ceases to amaze me how well jimlosaltos puts this stuff together. It really adds another dimension to the forum.

It certainly asks some tough questions about the state of American tennis right now. I never envisaged America would be outdone by the Ruskies in a middle class sport like tennis....but it seems to have happened. As the saying goes: ''someone has some explaining to do''

[jimlosaltos]

It never ceases to amaze me how well jimlosaltos puts this stuff together. It really adds another dimension to the forum.

It certainly asks some tough questions about the state of American tennis right now. I never envisaged America would be outdone by the Ruskies in a middle class sport like tennis....but it seems to have happened. As the saying goes: ''someone has some explaining to do''

Thank you! Glad to contribute.

[doctorhl]

My two cents on a partial part of U.S. pro tennis diminished success: if one contends that collegiate tennis still plays a conduit role in tennis development from juniors to pros, then it is a definite weak link. The sport is only included as a collegiate sport because it can be used as one of the minor sports needed for eligibility of collegiate major team sports as mandated by the governing body( NCAA). Funding for college tennis( it probably peaked around the McEnroe days), like other minor sports, was disrupted in the late ‘70’s with Title IX governmental mandates to provide and equally fund women’s sports. Collegiate tennis was suddenly thrown in a mix of minimally funded male, and now female minor sports only needed as eligibility requirements for major male and female team sports. So there is not much room for junior players with no money to pursue a pro career since there is no government sport ministry help and collegiate help has dried up. The amateur tennis governing body(USTA)and private academies do what they can, but they are competing for dollars with many other minor team sports and private academies that are leaving the secondary school sports system. Soccer is the first U.S. sport to develop primarily outside the educational system.

[arturohernandez]

My two cents on a partial part of U.S. pro tennis diminished success: if one contends that collegiate tennis still plays a conduit role in tennis development from juniors to pros, then it is a definite weak link. The sport is only included as a collegiate sport because it can be used as one of the minor sports needed for eligibility of collegiate major team sports as mandated by the governing body( NCAA). Funding for college tennis( it probably peaked around the McEnroe days), like other minor sports, was disrupted in the late ‘70’s with Title IX governmental mandates to provide and equally fund women’s sports. Collegiate tennis was suddenly thrown in a mix of minimally funded male, and now female minor sports only needed as eligibility requirements for major male and female team sports. So there is not much room for junior players with no money to pursue a pro career since there is no government sport ministry help and collegiate help has dried up. The amateur tennis governing body(USTA)and private academies do what they can, but they are competing for dollars with many other minor team sports and private academies that are leaving the secondary school sports system. Soccer is the first U.S. sport to develop primarily outside the educational system.

We should also consider the fact that even Mike Agassi said he would not have his son play tennis today. He would have him play baseball. I think we would call it a crisis if the US fell to the lowest in all professional sports that are played. There are so many really good athletes who go on to play other sports and make a living. Why would any American male play tennis? It requires too many years, too much training and too much money only to yield a lower salary.

If you are from Russia or Eastern Europe, playing tennis is a way out economically. It can lead to a much better living. Everyone in the US wants to be a star. So go on Youtube become an influencer and make enough to fund college or even better jump to Netflix.

I do think there is one way that the US might be able to improve but it is an unorthodox proposal.

Create a Costa del Sol tennis academy with private money that is bi-national on the California border with Mexico. Bring in Spanish coaches. Conduct the entire academy in Spanish and pretend you are in Spain. That means playing on clay a lot.

That would be the only way. It would take a cultural transplant to make the US a power in tennis again.

[jimlosaltos]

Another issue is the decline of professional tennis tournaments in the U.S. As Lleyton Hewitt put it, roughly, "Tennis players develop where they can watch tournaments as kids". U.S. used to have 22 pro events, I understand. Now, Indian Wells is the only large event west of Houston. There are more US Open Series men's events in Canada than in the entire Western US with a population of over 100 Million.

There are more men's pro tournaments in Umag, Croatia than in San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Denver, and Los Angeles -- combined.

[tenniscoach1]

I bet American tennis would take off if you did the following ...

#1 told your young coaches to go to school and get an education ...
#2 get a real job in a factory/police station/law office etc etc ...
#3 coach kids - volunteer at night until they have learned the system in 15/20 years ...

The biggest issue with tennis is the associations have placed more value on paying coaches/administrator. NEVER think the players/parents don't understand the deal 100% and who is who and what is what. Everyone knows an organized scam when they see one. The country needs more volunteer coaches - when those numbers go to the levels of hockey, baseball, basketball, MMA - then, and only then will the sport thrive. You have way to many people now involved in the sport that are not in it for the right reasons. As Don Budge said in one of his previous posts by the way.

[arturohernandez]

I bet American tennis would take off if you did the following ...

#1 told your young coaches to go to school and get an education ...
#2 get a real job in a factory/police station/law office etc etc ...
#3 coach kids - volunteer at night until they have learned the system in 15/20 years ...

The biggest issue with tennis is the associations have placed more value on paying coaches/administrator. NEVER think the players/parents don't understand the deal 100% and who is who and what is what. Everyone knows an organized scam when they see one. The country needs more volunteer coaches - when those numbers go to the levels of hockey, baseball, basketball, MMA - then, and only then will the sport thrive. You have way to many people now involved in the sport that are not in it for the right reasons. As Don Budge said in one of his previous posts by the way.

My daughter goes to a local coach who used to coach women's college tennis. He is really good. A gem. Not possessive at all, very helpful. He helped me with my forehand in one lesson. In about 10 mins. I had been with multiple coaches, many different times and even battled with some of them. One wanted me to hit an old school closed stance forehand. This coach clearly understood how to mold different kinds of players with different types of styles.

He works with my daughter now. He never over charges, never insists on us coming every week. Sometimes we go twice a month, sometimes it's three weeks in a row. It all depends on how my daughter feels. The coach told me to listen to her.

He knows all the coaches in town and how things operate. He is the one who suggested we ask women college players to hit with my daughter. Pay them to hit with her rather than go to an academy to play with the best juniors in town.

I also work with her and have started to work with some of the kids on her team. Just a little bit here and there. I don't charge and I don't want it to be a job. I have that luxury.

Basically, it sounds like tenniscoach1 is asking people to do things for the love of it. Sorry, but these days everything is monetized. Did you hear about the 200,000 fake accounts for Amazon reviews?

Not many people do it for the love of it anymore. We are losing our Lansdorp's and with it, tennis's other side, the noncommercial side, is going with it.

[tenniscoach1]

Basically, it sounds like tenniscoach1 is asking people to do things for the love of it. Sorry, but these days everything is monetized. Did you hear about the 200,000 fake accounts for Amazon reviews? Not many people do it for the love of it anymore. We are losing our Lansdorp's and with it, tennis's other side, the noncommercial side, is going with it.

Who would have thought - you throw money into the equation in sport and the talent pool goes down/injury rates go up/kids quit and parents go mental with the stress and burden?

[tenniscoach1]

A funny story - a buddy of mine - he went through all the guys we played with over the years to see how many of their parents were millionaires - and, we could only determine one parent was wealthy in the whole bunch. And, his kid was the worst player on that years team.

[arturohernandez]

A funny story - a buddy of mine - he went through all the guys we played with over the years to see how many of their parents were millionaires - and, we could only determine one parent was wealthy in the whole bunch. And, his kid was the worst player on that years team.

Great! To see that you are doing things for the right reasons. I suspect that it starts this way for good coaches. Then they see a chance at making more and more money. Eventually, it becomes a business. Everything is a business today.

But money can't buy you love. I keep telling people that and they think I should go back to last century.

[don_budge]

I'm loving this thread. But I am afraid if I get started I won't be able to stop. I will say this though...doctorhl has hit it on the head with the mention of Title IX government mandates, as he puts it. Leave to government to muck up something. But there is a bigger picture here boys...and that is there is a war on men. More specifically...a war on white men. This is coming from a guy who isn't necessarily white. I'm warning you. But I've been warning you for years. American men's tennis...in the dumpster. In the toilet. It ain't coming back. Not now. Not in the near future. Not ever. It has been systematically destroyed. By design. I know you don't believe it. Can't get your head around it. But...it is the truth. There is no way that the American tennis program could have been taken down so dramatically if it wasn't by design.

It is a war on men. It is and has been all about the girls for fifty years now. Another "Big Lie". Tennis metaphoring life. Look at America. Look at the core. Whatever once made it great has been systematically destroyed. The common unifying themes have devolved into cantankerous diversity. Continual acrimony. Looking for a solution? I have bad news for you. Like most of the problems society is experiencing today...they are too big to have any viable solution.

What made the sport great back in 1970 didn't have all that much to do with money. It was more about family and a wholesome attitude about life. Well that is gone. That is destroyed as well. The family was the first casualty. Do you really think that the policing problems in urban America is all about rogue cops? Guess again. It's about the family. No concept of what it takes to not breed a social network of criminals. It is all tied together...American tennis and Urban Roulette. The destruction of family values. Anything goes! Virtual morality! Everyone has rights! But nobody is taking responsibility. America was all about responsibility. It was revolutionary thought. The individual actually could make a difference. Not anymore. Everyone has an excuse why they can't make a difference. My skin is dark. I don't know if I'm a boy or a girl. Have you ever heard such nonsense in all of your life?

American men's tennis? Just forget about it. Ask yourself why...if you dare to. Ask yourself where is all of this going to? If you dare.

[don_budge]

The title of this thread could be..."American Men are on the verge of Extinction".

[glacierguy]

I will post a video of my work here in a minute or two ... my daughter logged a few eight hour shifts for three weeks getting it all set up under dads direction. Hey, you want to play - grab a paint brush, roller, learn to use nail and hammers kid and hold the ladder for dad while he is installing lights. That's my version of tennis development. By the way - USA Colleges - my girl is a class of 2024 graduate and will be going to school to get a law degree (-: - I think she will be a good D1 player if she sticks with the sport and doesn't decide to cross over to MMA fighting.

That's a beautiful tennis oasis - congratulations. I really like the two groups of sheltered chairs!