Does American Tennis start and end with Andy Roddick?

It has been ten long years since Andy Roddick won the US Open.

Roddick had beaten Spain’s Juan Carlos Ferrero in straight sets in the 2003 final at Flushing Meadows and an American tennis resurgence was very much on the cards.

Along with Roddick, a host of American youngsters such as James Blake and Taylor Dent showed great promise in the International tennis circuit and looked set to be the ‘Golden Generation’ of American tennis.

Serena and Venus Williams were rising, winning matches by the dozen (Serena had won both the Australian and Wimbledon titles in 2003), and were dominating the women’s game.

Roddick finished 2003 ranked World No.1, and American tennis looked set to have a bright and shiny future.

But fast forward to 2013 and America does not have a single male player ranked in the world’s Top 10 going into the Australian Open.

The only seeded player in the men’s draw at the upcoming Australian Open is the young Sam Querry (World No. 22).

Big serving John Isner and Mardy Fish have withdrawn from the tournament (an injured knee for the former and heart problems for the latter) and Querry will lead the American contingent in Melbourne.

Querry is the only seeded male player in the upcoming Australian Open

So what really happened to American tennis after 2003?

The rise of a certain Roger Federer is definitely a factor, as the Swiss maestro displaced Roddick from the No.1 spot after winning the 2004 Australian Open.

And Roddick never got it back, as world tennis saw the start of a ‘Federer era’ post 2003, during which the Swiss maestro completely dominated the men’s game.

Federer proved to be a virtual juggernaut, brushing aside competition at will and none of the top ranked players including Roddick looked like ending his dominance.

Roddick did reach two consecutive Wimbledon finals (2004 and 2005) and the US Open final in 2006, but was beaten by Federer (playing at his peak then) on all three occasions.

The closest Roddick came to winning a second Slam was in the 2009 Wimbledon final, when he had a marathon five set battle with Federer (the last set going to 30 games!) only for the Swiss ace to clinch a thriller.

Federer has beaten Roddick in four slam finals

After that loss, Roddick never came close to winning a Grand slam title again, and called it a day after losing to Juan Martin Del Porto in the fourth round of the 2012 US Open.

Though the women’s game still has the Williams sisters soldiering on despite stiff competition from players of the newer generation, the same cannot be said of the men’s game.

Dent disappeared after showing initial promise, whereas players such as Isner, Blake and Fish cannot be put in the league of potential Grand Slam champions.

The newer batch of American players has Querry and Donald Young, along with the rising Ryan Harrison(touted as a potential star), who may form the newer generation of American tennis.

With ‘A Rod’ retiring and the Williams sisters struggling to keep up pace with younger players (it has been two years since Serena’s French Open win), America does not look like winning a singles Grand Slam title anytime soon, at least on the men’s side.

And there exists every possibility of American tennis starting and ending off with Andy Roddick and his 2003 win!