If you were to ask the casual tennis fan to name as many American male tennis players off of the top of their head as possible, most would easily name Mardy Fish, Andy Roddick, and John Isner. After these three, a blank would be drawn. The lack of resurgence from American male players since the end of the Sampras-Agassi era has been disappointing in the eyes of many fans to say the least. The only two American players to have reached a Grand Slam semifinal since 2003 are Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick. In the defense of American players, the male game has become very top heavy in recent years with Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic becoming fixtures in the final four of majors.
The letdown of American male tennis players in the last 5-7 years is often viewed the wrong way. Many have been led to believe that there simply has been a lag in American talent. This statement is easily falsifiable. Currently, there are 10 Americans in the top 100 in the world. This is the most of any country apart from Spain, which has 13 men ranked in the top 100.
Now this begs question of has there actually been a letdown of talent or a failure of high expectations? I think undoubtedly the latter is the answer. Following the legacies of greats such as Agassi, Sampras, and Courier is no short task. It would be unreasonable to expect any group of any players from any country during any time period to achieve on the same level as these Americans did during the 80s’ and 90s.
If you go back in history, the only county since the beginning of the open era (1968) to achieve something comparable to what the Americans of the 1990′s achieved were Swedes in the 70s and 80s. Wilander, Borg, and Edberg combined for 24 grand slams over an 18 year period. The combination of Agassi, Sampras, Courier, collected 27 grandslams in 13 years.
A prime example of a player that has “failed” in the eyes of many Americans is Donald Young. When Donald Young was 15 people were sighting him as the next big star and a shoe in as a future number one based on his success at Junior National Championships in Kalamazoo which he was winning. Currently ranked 89th in the world, Young is 22 and already considered a bust. It is extremely premature to declare the career of a 22 year old a disappointment. Recently, many players have enjoyed their greatest successes near the end of their careers. Two examples of this are Mardy Fish, who has surged to a career high ranking of number 7 at age 29 and Jurgen Melzer, a journeymen Austrian who made his deepest career run in every single major coincidentally at the age of 29.
With players on the rise such as Mardy Fish, Ryan Harrison, Sam Querrey, Donald Young, John Isner, Alex Bogomolov Jr. , and Ryan Sweeting the future of American tennis appears to be very promising. And while this group of players will unlikely achieve the greatness of those in the 1990s, it would be wise to hold off on the bust word for a while.
Gilles Simon is going to be a player to watch at the US Open 2011. Simon just won the German Open in Hamburg and in the final I was loving his new Adidas clothes! I remember when Nike was doing checked shorts like this when Andre Agassi was their main player! So cool!
On July 9, tennis legend Andre Agassi has formally accepted his invitation to be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island.
The 8-time Grand Slam champion has achieved so much throughout his career and went through some tough times as well as some great moments. He was joined at the induction ceremony by long-time tennis supporter and WTA pioneer Fern Lee “Peachy” Kellmeyer. The ceremony was one of the largest ever get-togethers at the event, with 200 people in Agassi’s support group who attended the Class of 2011 ceremony. Agassi’s wife, Steffi Graf and their two children were part of the crowd as well.
“I’m thrilled and humbled and quite honestly a bit terrified to be here standing in front of you today,” said Agassi. “At age five, my father told me to win Wimbledon. At age seven, he told me to win all of the Grand Slams. And more times than I can remember, he told me to get into the Hall of Fame,” Agassi humorously explained. “Later, at age 29, he told me to marry Stefanie Graf. Dad, don’t every stop telling what to do.”
This is a great day in tennis history and I want to thank Andre personally for giving us all that he has given, from the wacky outfits to the great championship memories. You are now a legend for all time and I’m glad that the Tennis Hall of Fame has recognized all that you have done for the sport and everything you are still doing for the sport, because it is people like you who strive for tennis to be the sport that it is today. Thank you so much for everything, Andre.
Professional tennis players seem to do a lot more charity work compared to other sports. Andre Agassi, Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova played at a charity event recent, but they couldn’t believe it when Elton John hit an amazing lob with easy.
Andre Agassi said that Rafael Nadal actually has a shot at winning the Grand Slam this year. The Grand Slam is winning all four majors in one calendar year and it is a feat accomplished by only two men, Don Budge and Rod Laver. Currently Nadal is the 2-7 favourite for the French Open title, while Roger Federer is at 6-1.
“Certainly you have to be good enough to win all four, but then you have to get lucky to win all four. I think this is the first time in a really long time that we’re going to see somebody maybe pull that off.” The Spaniard isn’t counting on it. “Thanks to Andre for his word, my goal now is to practice well to play well in Roland Garros,” he told reporters in Madrid.
There are so many players signing some great sponsorship deals lately and Agnieszka Radwanska has now joined the crowd. Radwanska who is now the world number 12 signed a sponsorship deal with Longines the Swiss watch manufacturer.
“It’s a privilege to be a Longines Ambassador of Elegance,” said Radwanska, who has joined legendary tennis couple, Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf, in the family of Longines partners.
Sponsorship deals like this really make me wonder who is running companies like Longines and deciding that providing tennis players with sponsorships is really going to help them sell more watches. I can see that providing one of the top 5 players in the world with sponsorships might be a good idea, but only if you can get this is some advertising campaigns in return, thus providing a top quality brand image. However, im sure Radwanska by herself wont help Longines to sell any more of their world famous watches!
After a great Wimbledon exhibition match Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf are schedule to now compete in another exhibition match on Saturday the 6th of June at Roland Garros. The famous couple will be playing on Court 7 at 11am. If you are heading to Roland Garros make sure you dont miss this match!
The match is being sponsored by Longines, and is in honour of the tenth anniversary of the couple’s 1999 singles championship wins. That year would prove to be Agassi’s one and only Roland Garros success, while it was Graf’s sixth and final triumph.
Agassi and Graf will also play with ten young players from around the world, followed by a special gala and auction benefiting the Andre Agassi Foundation and Children for Tomorrow.
Yesterday afternoon I sat down to watch the Wimbledon Centre Court showcase in which they unveiled the new retractable roof.
The sliding, canvassed roof barely had time to shut Sunday for the All England Club’s grand opening — or closing — of the new structure before the rain starting pouring down over south London. In the same kind of weather that has forced so many rain delays in the past, the Centre Court then hosted a televised tennis spectacle in perfect conditions.
“It’s a real treat to be able to play in these conditions inside, when it’s been so miserable, cold, windy and wet outside,” said Tim Henman, who teamed with Kim Clijsters to play married couple Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf in doubles and singles matches.
It now seems as though no fans will ever have to head home again if they hold a Centre Court ticket. The 15,000 spectators and invited guests had a great opportunity to feel first hand how the atmosphere will feel during the Wimbledon main event.
“The conditions were really good,” Clijsters said. “And I love the sound. Wimbledon already had that, where you feel like when [the crowd is] really into the match, the sound really comes down to the players. And now even more so with the roof. For the players, it just feels like they’re right there next to you.”
Agassi also said the closed surrounding will take the atmosphere to a new level.
“The sound was magnificent,” he said. “I think when you get two people out there who can really play, and move and hit the ball, I think you’re going to feel a level of titanic battle that you haven’t seen yet. … That’s an environment that lends itself to some spectacular tennis.”
The roof is perhaps the biggest change to come to the 87-year-old tennis cathedral, and marks a remarkable break with tradition by the famously conventional All England Club.
The roof takes about 10 minutes to close, and the Centre Court’s ventilation system then needs about 30 minutes to get moisture out of the air and create the right conditions. During short rain showers, organizers still plan on using the traditional covers on the court to create shorter breaks. Once the roof is up, it will not open up until a match is over.
After finally getting the roof completed, Ian Ritchie, the chief executive of the All England Club, said he wouldn’t be surprised to see perfect weather at this year’s tournament. But that’s just fine with him.
Andre Agassi said that Rafael Nadal actually has a shot at winning the Grand Slam this year. The Grand Slam is winning all four majors in one calendar year and it is a feat accomplished by only two men, Don Budge and Rod Laver. Currently Nadal is the 2-7 favourite for the French Open title, while Roger Federer is at 6-1.
There are so many players signing some great sponsorship deals lately and Agnieszka Radwanska has now joined the crowd. Radwanska who is now the world number 12 signed a sponsorship deal with Longines the Swiss watch manufacturer.
Yesterday afternoon I sat down to watch the 
