American Men's Tennis Starts 2014 Poorly

With the way Davis Cup went, in addition to the first Grand Slam of the season, I think we can officially call the start to 2014 a disappointment. That's not to say there have not been promising moments. John Isner won the first ATP tour title for an American this season in Auckland, Eric Butorac made the finals of the Australian Open in doubles, Stefan Kozlov made the finals of the Australian Open in juniors, Bradley Klahn won a challenger title in Maui, and Wayne Odesnik won a challenger title in Chitre. So it could be worse... it could always be worse.

I think it's safe to say the negatives have outweighed the positives, though. The title in Auckland for Isner came at the expense of him being able to compete at the Australian Open or Davis Cup, and without him the lack of depth really showed. Only two Americans made it to the 3rd round of the Aussie (Donald Young and Sam Querrey) and they were both dispatched in routine straights. Those two would end up representing the Americans in San Diego.

Post Australian Open Rankings

A quick update on where the Americans stand on the ATP after the last few weeks, so our month's end ranking of the players in the top 200:

13. John Isner (-)
49. Sam Querrey (+2)
79. Donald Young (+12)
82. Bradley Klahn (+11)
89. Jack Sock (+6)
97. Michael Russell (-5)
100. Tim Smyczek (-10)

Living with Mental Weakness on the Tennis Court

The most common misconception about having mental weakness on a tennis court, in my estimation, is the assumption that it's an easy fix or that it can simply be changed with little work. Much like lazy footwork or a hitch in your forehand, it can take years of full commitment and training/practice to get your mind right. Even then, there are no guarantees. Like every technical part of your tennis game, your mind never stays the same... it gets better or worse every day depending on how much you work at it.

Australian Open Preview

The first grand slam of the season is here! Austin Krajicek is competing in the qualifying draw, but I want to mention him by name first here because he had a big week in Noumea. Krajicek defeated Duckhee Lee and Edward Corrie to get into the 125k challenger main draw, then he upset doubles partner Tennys Sandgren and David Goffin (by retirement) to start the year with a quarterfinal run, before losing 6-0 in the 3rd against Irishman James McGee. He also teamed with Sandgren to win the doubles title in Noumea without dropping a set all week. That's a fantastic way to start 2014 for Krajicek, one of the best weeks of his career, and he's up to a career high doubles ranking of 90 and a singles ranking of 227 (career high is 210).

In singles we have the following nine players in the main:

Why Does American Men's Tennis Suck Now?

I admit, the subject line is harsh. And as much as I follow tennis and have my fingers on the pulse of the grass roots youth movement, I know there is hope for the future. So it's not all glass half empty. Still, there is no denying American tennis is at its worst, ever, in 2013. John Isner is the highest ranked American at 14, Sam Querrey is barely in the top 50, and then you've got a handful of other guys between 89 and 110. That's the current state of American men's singles tennis. Sure, it was probably never going to be as good as the Agassi/Sampras/Chang/Courier era, but none of us ever saw it getting THIS bad.

American Tennis 2014 Preview

2013 was a year we just assume forget in a lot of ways for American tennis. There is no question the state of our country's game is in a state of crisis and transition. As always there's two ways to look at it: glass half full or glass half empty. Either way, it's undeniable that while you make the convenient narrative statement that "tennis is just a worldwide sport these days" or that "the world has caught up"; we as American tennis players on the ATP tour can get a lot better. For starters, the fact that our #2 ranked player is 46 and our #3 ranked player is 89 are a problem. Currently there are 7 American players in the top 100, but 5 of them are between 89 and 100. The good news is there are some young guys knocking on the door.

We might be a year or two away from having 4-5 guys in the top 50 again, but while we may never regain the golden age of Sampras-Agassi-Courier-Chang dominance I got to enjoy as a kid, things will be a lot better in the future than they are now. I'm convinced of it. The problem with American tennis is we are taught to hit big serves and forehands, and come in. That has always been the blueprint to success. As strings got better, balls heavier, courts slower... it's all benefited legs and consistency over shotmaking. Not only is it harder to hit through the court, underdeveloped weaknesses are easier to expose. So all those youngsters that spent all their formative years not worrying about a backhand because they were running around it and bombing every shot? They are paying for that now. And it's much easier to pass them when they are at the net. The classic clay courter game is now the universal game, and that's what having success. Guys like Raonic, Tsonga, Isner and Berdych are the exception because they are freaks of nature. But unless you are a freak of nature, you better be able to run, defend, keep the ball in the court and have endurance. That's how you survive in the modern game. It's why a guy like Smyczek is ranked so much higher than Steve Johnson, say, despite having much less "game". We're getting there but years of one dimensional teaching has to be undone. Anyway, this could take up an entire blog post so I'll leave it at that for now.

The players:

USA Men's Doubles Year in Review

The guys that have been carrying the flag of American men's tennis for a couple years now all on their own now are of course Mike and Bob Bryan. Most special perhaps of their 11 titles in 2013 was their second ever French Open title (pictured) and first in 10 years. The Bryans reached 15 finals in 2013 going 11-4, winning three grand slams (Australian, Wimbledon and French) and ending the year #1 by a country mile. This was arguably their most dominant season yet and they are showing no signs of slowing down. It wasn't a perfect season, though, and perhaps their biggest disappointment was a loss at the US Open that cost them the calendar Grand Slam, and an 0-2 record in Davis Cup. Doubles starts and ends with the Bryan brothers and it will hopefully remain that way for years to come.