The success of the Williams sisters at Wimbledon highlighted the shortage of talent in men’s soccer in the United States. Talk of the crisis in American tennis increased when only one player, world number 102 Bobby Reynolds, reached the third round of Wimbledon.
Journeymen like Reynolds, Vincent Spadea and Robby Ginepri have hovered around the world’s top 50, but despite early career promise from Mardy Fish, Sam Querrey and John Isner, only James Blake and Andy Roddick exist as credible Grand Slam winners. .
Both are established top 10 players and are at the level of players fighting to join the elite of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. Roddick was the 2003 US Open champion and has since reached three Grand Slam finals, with Federer blocking his path to glory each time.
Another US Open title might be out of reach at Flushing Meadows, but he’s the man to beat at the tour events leading up to the season finale Grand Slam. Each of his four ATP Masters Series victories came in North America and no player has won more than seven titles from him at the top six North American Tour events in the past five years.
Roddick is not in action at the Indianapolis championships currently taking place, but bettors should look for him in Toronto, Cincinnati, Los Angeles, Washington and New Haven. Blake won in New Haven last year and is the top seed in Indianapolis, though Tommy Haas, in top form, leads the European contingent and is always a decent bet on US hard courts.
The big names choose their events carefully before the Grand Slams, so Federer and Nadal could have light schedules after their efforts at Wimbledon. Djokovic fell at SW19 in the second round and will be eager to buy time in the tournament before heading to the US Open, where he reached the final last year, missing out on good chances to beat Federer.