Smyczek: Prospects could end U.S. Slam title drought

American veteran Tim Smyczek, playing in last month's $100,000
Fairfield (Calif.) Challenger, has faced almost all of the United
States' top prospects. Photo by Paul Bauman 

   This is the last of a three-part series on the bright future of U.S. men's tennis.
   The last American man to win a Grand Slam singles title was Andy Roddick seemingly an eternity ago in the 2003 U.S. Open.
   Tim Smyczek might have played the next one.
   The United States has 10 men age 21 or younger, all with impressive credentials, ranked among the top 350 in the world. Smyczek, a 28-year-old U.S. veteran, has played eight of them a combined 22 times.
   Smyczek (pronounced SMEE-check) discussed four phenoms — Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, Jared Donaldson and Michael Mmoh — during last month's $100,000 Fairfield (Calif.) Challenger.
   All, according to Smyczek, are potential Grand Slam champions.
   "Yeah, they all have potential, but we all know that's not what it's about," cautioned Smyczek, who was seeded third in Fairfield and lost in the second round of Joris De Loore of Belgium. "When players Andy Murray's age were in the juniors, there were probably 10 to 15 guys that had potential to win Grand Slams, and two or three have (succeeded).
   "I think every one of those (U.S. prospects) has a huge upside, but it's silly to say, 'Oh, yeah, he's going to win a Grand Slam someday.' They all have huge potential, but who knows about Slams? It's tough to predict."

   Smyczek, only 5-foot-9 (1.75 meters) and 160 pounds (73 kilograms), is ranked No. 133 after reaching a career-high No. 68 early last year. He is best known for his gentlemanly gesture in a five-set loss to Rafael Nadal in the second round of last year's Australian Open. With Nadal serving for the match at 6-5, 30-0 in the fifth set, Smyczek allowed the Spanish star an extra first serve after a fan had yelled during his toss and caused a fault.

Taylor Fritz serves during last year's Fairfield
Challenger, which he won. Fritz, 19, leads U.S.
players 21 or younger at No. 73 in the world.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   Smyczek is 1-1 against Fritz, 1-2 versus Tiafoe (pronounced Tee-AH-foe), 3-3 against Donaldson (who has won the last three meetings) and 1-1 versus Mmoh.
   Fritz, who turned 19 on Friday, leads the young Americans at No. 73 in the world. He won last year's Sacramento and Fairfield Challengers back to back.
   Tiafoe, 18, and Donaldson, 20, are next at No. 102 and No. 109, respectively. Both recently cracked the top 100 for the first time, Tiafoe by winning last month's $100,000 Stockton (Calif.) Challenger.
   Mmoh, 18, is ninth at No. 281. He reached the final of the $100,000 Tiburon (Calif.) Challenger as a qualifier in October and the semifinals in Stockton the following week while battling a strained abdominal muscle.
   Interestingly, the four players' rankings correspond to their heights. Fritz is 6-foot-4 (1.93 meters), Tiafoe and Donaldson are 6-foot-2 (1.88 meters), and Mmoh is 6-foot-1 (1.85 meters).
   Smyczek hesitated when asked which of the 10 young Americans in the top 350 impresses him the most.
   "It's a good question," he said. "Each one does some different things really well. Taylor Fritz obviously has had the most success, but he might be a little one-dimensional. He kind of has one speed — he hits the ball hard. If he gets backed into a corner, he hits the ball harder. I think he'll learn to play some defense a little better, and I also think he'll learn to come forward when it's the right time. Right now, he doesn't volley great, but he'll probably develop that part of his game going forward.

   "Frances is playing some really good tennis," Smyczek continued before Tiafoe lost in the second round in Fairfield and the first round the following week in Las Vegas. "He can do a lot of different things well. He moves well, he serves very well, and he can turn defense into offense really quickly. I've been very impressed with Frances, especially lately.

Frances Tiafoe reaches for a forehand while winning last month's $100,000
Stockton Challenger. Tiafoe, 18, "can turn defense into offense really
quickly," Smyczek said. Photo by Paul Bauman

   "The other guys, they're all progressing at their own rates. It's important for them to remember that. It's good to have competition among each other, and they'll help each other get better and climb up the rankings. At the same time, everybody goes at their own pace. Right now, Taylor Fritz might be the highest-ranked one. Maybe a year from now, Tiafoe will pass him up. It's hard to tell, but as a group, the under-21 guys are exciting to watch, for sure."
   Tiafoe has been known to lose his temper on the court, but Smyczek said it's not a major issue.
   "He doesn't get enough credit for controlling his emotions. He's not a basket case or anything like that. He's not breaking rackets every match or anything. I think he'll get better at thinking his way through matches and might learn to play a bit more cerebral-type tennis, but I don't think his emotions are really a liability," Smyczek suggested.

Jared Donaldson eyes a backhand in last year's
$100,000 Sacramento Challenger, in which he
was the runner-up to Fritz. Donaldson, 20, stun-
ned 14th-ranked David Goffin en route to the
third round of the U.S. Open as a qualifier this
past summer. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Donaldson, meanwhile, upset four top-50 players in top-level tournaments over the summer:

    —No. 33 Fabio Fognini of Italy en route to the round of 16 in Toronto as a qualifier.

    —No. 47 and former top-10 player Nicolas Almagro of Spain before losing 6-4 in the third set to No. 4 Stan Wawrinka in the second round at Cincinnati.
    —No. 14 David Goffin of Belgium and No. 32 Viktor Troicki of Serbia before falling to No. 23 Ivo Karlovic, 6-foot-11 (2.11 meters), in the third round of the U.S. Open as a qualifier.
   "I always thought very, very highly of (Donaldson) because he's played some really, really good tennis against me," Smyczek said. "I've seen him play some not-so-good tennis against other people. This summer, he really started to come into his own. He had a couple of really big wins at the tour level, and it culminated at the U.S. Open."
   Assessing the 6-foot-2 (1.88-meter), 160-pound (73-kilogram) Donaldson's strengths and weaknesses, Smyczek said: "First of all, as he gets a little older, he's probably going to put a little meat on his bones. He's pretty skinny, and some of those guys can be real susceptible to injuries, but he travels with a trainer. I think he's doing a lot of the right things in that respect.
   "His serve is good when it's on. He might start to work on becoming a little more consistent with his serve, but when he's serving well, it's a huge weapon. He moves well. His forehand is very, very big when he's set, stationary. His backhand is rock solid. He doesn't volley well yet, but his coaches are Taylor and Phil Dent. I don't know about Phil, but Taylor (was) a pretty good volleyer, so I think they'll probably be working on that as well."
   Phil, a 66-year-old Australia native, and Taylor Dent, a 35-year-old Southern California native, are father-son former pro players.

Michael Mmoh, 18, shows his athleticism en route
to the semifinals of the recent Stockton Challenger.
Mmoh also reached the final of the $100,000 Tibur-
on (Calif.) Challenger as a qualifier the previous
week. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Phil Dent climbed to No. 17 in singles, falling to Jimmy Connors in the 1974 Australian Open, and No. 9 in doubles, winning the 1975 Australian Open with countryman John Alexander. Suffice it to say Dent could volley.
   Taylor reached the fourth round of the U.S. Open in 2003 and at Wimbledon in 2005, and advanced to the singles semifinals of the 2004 Olympics in Athens. He peaked at No. 21 in singles and No. 170 in doubles before back surgery derailed his career.
   Mmoh's Nigerian-born father, Tony, also played professionally, although his best singles ranking was No. 105 in 1987.
   "Michael is one of the most athletic people you will ever see on a tennis court," Reilly Opelka, a 6-foot-11 (2.11-meter) U.S. prospect and close friend of Mmoh, told The New York Times last year. "There is nothing he can't do out there."
   Both of Smyczek's matches against Mmoh have been battles. Smyczek won 7-6 (2), 2-6, 7-5 in the first round of qualifying at Indian Wells in March. They met again in the Tiburon semifinals, and Mmoh saved a match point in a 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6) victory over third seed and defending champion.
   "I tend to be pretty high on the guys that beat me," Smyczek cracked, "and he played some really, really good tennis in Tiburon. The last time I played him, he was very, very defensive. His game was to run and play defense and let guys miss. I was surprised in Tiburon how offensive he played at times. That's a huge improvement in his game.
   "He's extremely physical for his age, way beyond his years in that sense. His serve has developed very well. Yeah, I think he can be extremely good, too."

   Smyczek also discussed Stefan Kozlov two years ago after losing to the U.S. phenom 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (1) in the semifinals of the $100,000 Sacramento Challenger. It was their first career meeting and Kozlov's first victory over a top-100 player. He was 16 years old at the time, and Smyczek was ranked No. 99.

Eighteen-year-old Stefan Kozlov, playing in
Tiburon last month, "can be a top-10 player
one day," according to former world No. 17
Sam Querrey. Photo by Paul Bauman

   "He plays a real unconventional style ... " observed Smyczek, who has beaten the
6-foot (1.83-meter) Kozlov in straight sets in both of their subsequent matches. "He uses the slice a lot — (including on) the forehand, which you don't see much — and he's good at sneaking into the net and knocking volleys off. You don't see the variety that he brings very much."
   In the Sacramento final, Kozlov lost to
6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Sam Querrey, a U.S. Davis Cup veteran, 6-3, 6-4. Afterward, Querrey predicted stardom for Kozlov.
   "He's got every shot in the book," declared Querrey, now ranked No. 29 after reaching a career-high No. 17 in 2011. "If he keeps on the path he's on, he can be a top-10 player one day."
   Now 18, Kozlov is ranked a career-high
No. 144, up from No. 351 at the beginning of 2016. He has beaten three top-100 players this year: No. 39 Steve Johnson and No. 96 Benjamin Becker on grass and No. 75 Damir Dzumhur on hardcourt.
   The other U.S. men age 21 or younger in the top 350 are No. 135 Ernesto Escobedo and No. 169 Noah Rubin (both 20), No. 229 Tommy Paul and No. 276 Opelka (both 19) and No. 342 Mackenzie McDonald.
   McDonald, a 21-year-old native of Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, turned pro in June after a sensational junior year at UCLA. Only 5-foot-10 (1.78 meters) and 145 pounds (66 kilograms), he became the first man since Matias Boeker of Georgia 15 years ago to sweep the NCAA singles and doubles titles.
   Fritz, Tiafoe and the other U.S. prospects hope to end the Grand Slam singles title drought for a once-dominant nation that now has no one in the top 20.
   "It would mean a lot to me," Tiafoe, the U.S.-born son of African immigrants, said in Stockton. "I'm just happy there's a bunch of good guys that are coming up with me so there's no real pressure on one person.
   "Noah, Stefan — Mmoh's been playing great — Tommy and Fritz and Donaldson ... there are so many guys under 21 playing well. I hope all of us can come up as a group in the top 20, top 10 one day, just like back in the day, how it used to be, how it needs to be."

Rubin: 'Tennis players have to be unique people'

Noah Rubin is shown during his loss to fellow U.S. pros-
pect Frances Tiafoe in the final of last month's $100,000
Stockton (Calif.) Challenger. Photo by Paul Bauman

   This is the second of a three-part series on the bright future of U.S. men's tennis.
   Noah Rubin reacted philosophically after losing to fellow U.S. prospect Frances Tiafoe in the final of last month's $100,000 Stockton (Calif.) Challenger.
   "Tennis players have to be unique people," mused the 20-year-old resident of Long Island, N.Y. "We lose every week. And I'm not taking anything away from Frances. He won this week; he's not going to win every week. So there are going to be weeks where we're just going to be unhappy. It's very tough to consistently lose at a sport."
   Continued the 5-foot-10 (1.78-meter), 155-pound (70-kilogram) Rubin, who missed much of the summer with a sprained ankle: "Everybody will say, 'Noah, you had a great week.' Yeah, but the last thing I remember is losing. Obviously, there's a lot to take away. My mentality definitely is back on track to playing better tennis and getting where I need to be, but obviously there's still room to improve.
   "So yes, it's going to be tough going (to his host family's) home tonight and thinking about the match. Luckily, my next match starts in less than 48 hours."
   Rubin, however, lost to seventh-seeded Grega Zemlja of Slovenia 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4) in the first round of the $100,000 Fairfield (Calif.) Challenger.

Rubin addresses the crowd after the Stockton final.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   Tiafoe, 18, not only fell in the second round in Fairfield but in the opening round the following week in the $50,000 Las Vegas Tennis Open.
   Tiafoe and Rubin — at No. 102 and No. 169, respectively — are among 23 U.S. men ranked in the top 250 in the world. Almost one-third of those players, seven, are 21 or younger.

   Now for the bad news:
    —The United States, which had four of the top five men and seven of the top 10 in the 1979 year-end singles rankings -- has no one in the top 20. Jack Sock leads the way at No. 24.
    —No American man has won a Grand Slam singles title since Andy Roddick in the 2003 U.S. Open.
    —With the retirement of Robby Ginepri last year, no active American man has even reached a major semifinal in singles.
   Rubin is cautiously optimistic about the future of U.S. men's tennis.
   "We have countless — 30 — guys inside the top 250 in the world," he estimated. "The stats are in our favor for having a top-10 or many top-50 players. Where they go from here is up to them.

   "We try to push each other and have that camaraderie because every player that's been top 10 in the world has had friendly competition that pushes them each and every day. It's great that we have that, and I think we're really supportive of one another. Then again, we're going to face a lot more obstacles. I promise you, a lot of guys will not make it through. That's just how it is. It's not an easy sport."

Rubin poses with his runner-up trophy
in Stockton. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Rubin was introduced to the game at age 1 by his father and later coach, Eric. Training at the John McEnroe Tennis Academy in New York, Noah reached No. 6 in the world junior rankings at 16. During his dream summer of 2014, he won the Wimbledon boys singles title and the USTA boys 18 national title.
   Rubin turned pro last year after reaching the NCAA singles final as a freshman at Wake Forest. He won the $50,000 Charlottesville (Va.) Challenger indoors as a qualifier one year ago this week and stunned then-No. 18 Benoit Paire of France in the first round of the Australian Open in January.
   McEnroe said several years ago that Rubin, who lost to seventh-seeded Peter Polansky of Canada today in the first round in Charlottesville, has at least top-50 potential. Rubin sees less of McEnroe these days because of conflicting schedules.
   "He has a perspective not everybody else has," Rubin said of the 17-time Grand Slam champion (seven singles, nine doubles and one mixed doubles). "He won 10 Grand Slams or whatever, not counting doubles. There's something to be said for that. You can't take that away from anybody. You just ask him what it's like to be there."
   Rubin, wearing a necklace with a small Wimbledon pendant, added that McEnroe looks at tennis "very differently. It's almost not what he's more comfortable with. It's trying to make it most uncomfortable for his opponent. Obviously, he has incredible hands, which can't be taught, but he explains it in a way where you look at it from a different angle, so it is helpful."
   As a professional tennis player, Rubin will take all the help he can get.
   Next: U.S. veteran Tim Smyczek assesses five American hopefuls.

Gullikson on U.S. hopefuls: 'Rising tide lifts all boats'

Tom Gullikson, left, the USTA lead men's national
coach, chats with 6-foot-11 (2.11-meter) Reilly Opelka,
19, at the recent $100,000 Fairfield (Calif.) Challenger.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   This is the first of a three-part series on the bright future of U.S. men's tennis.
   One spectator took particular interest as U.S. prospects dominated the recent $100,000 Stockton (Calif.) Challenger.
   Tom Gullikson, the USTA lead men's national coach, watched proudly as Frances Tiafoe, Noah Rubin, Michael Mmoh and Mackenzie McDonald monopolized the semifinals.
   The quartet are among 10 Americans age 21 or younger ranked in the top 350 in the world. A surprising second is Italy with five, although four of those players are 21 and the top-ranked young Italian (No. 207 Matteo Donati, 21) would be seventh among the U.S. players.
   The United States has one 21-year-old (McDonald from Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area) in the group, three 20-year-olds (Rubin, Jared Donaldson and Ernesto Escobedo), three 19-year-olds (Taylor Fritz, Reilly Opelka and Tommy Paul) and three 18-year-olds (Tiafoe, Mmoh and Stefan Kozlov).
   "A rising tide lifts all boats in the harbor," Gullikson, a 65-year-old former top-five doubles player, said in Stockton. "When you look at our group of players between 18 and 21, and compared with the rest of the world, we have 10, 12 guys that all look like they could be very good professionals and get to the top levels of the men's game. Clearly, there's a lot of development or improvement that needs to happen before they all get there."
   Half of the 10 prospects played in Stockton. Absent were Donaldson, Escobedo, Opelka, Fritz and Kozlov. However, Kozlov played in the $100,000 Tiburon Challenger the week before and the 6-foot-11 (2.11-meter) Opelka in the $100,000 Fairfield Challenger the week after. Both lost in the second round, with Kozlov falling to Mmoh.
   Fritz leads the young Americans at No. 73 in the world. Next are Tiafoe, who beat Rubin in the Stockton final, at No. 102 and Donaldson at No. 109.
   Fritz skyrocketed from No. 694 to No. 232 after winning back-to-back Challengers in Sacramento and Fairfield last October.
   "He made a meteoric rise, and he wasn't the most highly touted junior of that group," Gullikson noted. "But when the others see the success of guys their age, they say, 'If he can do it, I can do it.' "
   Except that Fritz is 6-foot-4 (1.93 meters) with power. So is budding star Nick Kyrgios, 21, of Australia. And the brightest prospect of all, 19-year-old Alexander Zverev of Germany, is 6-foot-6 (1.98 meters).

Gullikson, right, and USTA coach Robby Ginepri, left,
liked what they saw in the recent $100,000 Stockton
(Calif.) Challenger. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Gullikson said the USTA's recently established Team USA department "has two main objectives. How many players can we get in, say, the top 230 in the world so we can flood the Grand Slam qualifying events with Americans? Obviously, the more we get in, the more might win three rounds and get through (to the main draw). ... And how many players can we get in the top hundred? We want them to go much higher, but the reason we picked the top hundred is then you're straight into all four Slams. You're playing at the biggest venues against the biggest players, and that's where you want to be."
   As examples of the first goal, Gullikson mentioned Donaldson and Ryan Harrison at this year's U.S. Open. Both reached the third round (to earn $140,000 each) as qualifiers. Donaldson stunned 12th-seeded David Goffin of Belgium in the first round, and Harrison ousted fifth-seeded Milos Raonic of Canada in the second round. But Raonic, the runner-up at Wimbledon earlier in the summer, was plagued by cramps.
   "We're not trying to help develop players to do well in the Futures or the Challengers, with all due respect because they're a great piece of this developmental puzzle," Gullikson continued. "We want guys to be top hundred, top 50, top 30, be seeded in Slams. Then we want to replenish our Davis Cup, Fed Cup and Olympic teams."  
   The ultimate goal, of course, is to produce Grand Slam singles champions. The United States, which has the richest tennis tradition in the world, hasn't had one since Andy Roddick in the 2003 U.S. Open.
   In fact, since Robby Ginepri retired last year, no active American man has reached a Grand Slam semifinal in singles. Ginepri attended the Stockton Challenger as a USTA coach.
   But there's only so much the USTA can do, according to Gullikson.
   "I don't think any kind of system or structure can create a great player," he cautioned. "It comes from inside. It comes from the heart; it comes from the head. The USTA can create a really supportive environment and supply the latest training techniques and supply coaching help, physios, strength and conditioning coaches, and a facility like the one we're building in Florida, the home of American tennis with 102 courts that's going to open in late December or early January. We also have the training center in Carson, California.
   "I think we can create an environment that's conducive to people maximizing their potential."
   Next: "Tennis players have to be unique people," says U.S. prospect Noah Rubin.  

Wave of U.S. men's prospects could make big splash

Taylor Fritz won back-to-back Challengers in Northern Cali-
fornia just before his 18th birthday. 2015 photo
 by Paul Bauman

   The next five to 10 years are going to be mighty interesting in U.S. men's tennis.
   You remember the United States, right?
   Used to be pretty good in men's tennis.
   Cranked out Hall of Famers the way John Grisham does bestsellers.
   Twenty years ago, had the top two players in the world (Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi), three of the top five (including Michael Chang) and four of the top eight (with Jim Courier).
   Collected Davis Cups the way Meryl Streep racks up Oscar nominations.
   Now?
   Eclipsed by Spain, Switzerland, Serbia, Great Britain, Canada and Burkina Faso. Doing about as well as Detroit.
   Hasn't won a Grand Slam singles title since Harry Potter was in his fifth year at Hogwarts (2003).
   Hasn't won a Davis Cup since the U.S. economy was thriving (2007).
   Has no one in the top 10 and one player, No. 11 John Isner, in the top 25.
   Sure, the Bryan brothers have won a record 16 Grand Slam men's doubles titles, but because the top singles players rarely play doubles and it consequently receives little television exposure, few care.

   There's hope for the United States, though. A lot of it.
   Jack Sock, 23, and Steve Johnson, 25, are rising in the rankings at No. 26 and No. 32, respectively. Sock already owns two Grand Slam doubles titles: men's doubles with Vasek Pospisil of Canada at Wimbledon last year and mixed doubles with countrywoman Melanie Oudin in the 2011 U.S. Open.
   And behind Sock, who turned pro out of high school, and Johnson, who led USC to four NCAA titles, comes a wave of top U.S. teenagers.

Stefan Kozlov, 17, told The New York Times
last year, "I think the next generation is going
to be huge. And I think it's coming soon, to be
honest." 2014 photo by Paul Bauman

   "I think the next generation is going to be huge," one of them, Stefan Kozlov, told The New York Times last year. "And I think it's coming soon, to be honest."
   That would buck a trend of players peaking between 25 and 30 in today's physical game (translation: courts are slower, which means more rallies, which means higher television ratings, which means more money).
   Still, the United States has more top prospects than at any time in memory.
   It began with a trickle in December 2013 when 15-year-old Frances Tiafoe became the youngest boy to win the Orange Bowl, the most prestigious junior tournament in the world outside of the Grand Slams.
   The trickle became a stream last year when Noah Rubin, then 18, defeated Kozlov, 16 at the time, in the first all-American boys singles final at Wimbledon since 1977. Then Kozlov, playing with a sore elbow, became the third-youngest American to reach a final on the Challenger tour (equivalent to Triple A in baseball).

   This year, a deluge of promising U.S. teens has struck. The prospects have dominated Grand Slam junior tournaments and U.S. fall Challengers, and one qualified for the men's singles draw in the U.S. Open.
   Three different Americans have won the last three Grand Slam junior singles titles: Tommy Paul (French), 6-foot-11 (2.11-meter) Reilly Opelka (Wimbledon) and Taylor Fritz (U.S. Open).
   In fact, only once in those tournaments has a non-American reached the final. Paul defeated Fritz to join McEnroe (1977) and Bjorn Fratangelo (2011) as the only Americans to win the French Open boys title. It was the first all-American final in the 68-year history of the junior boys event. Opelka topped Mikael Ymer of Sweden at Wimbledon, and Fritz beat Paul in the U.S. Open.
   Earlier in the U.S. Open, Paul became the only American to emerge from men's qualifying. He lost to 25th-seeded Andreas Seppi, an Italian veteran who stunned Roger Federer in the third round of the Australian Open in January, in straight sets in the first round of the main draw.
   Fritz won back-to-back Northern California Challengers in Sacramento ($100,000) and Fairfield ($50,000) in October and reached the final of last month's $50,000 Champaign (Ill.) Challenger. He became the ninth boy to win multiple Challenger titles before his 18th birthday.

Frances Tiafoe, 17, reached the semifinals of the $50,000 Fairfield (Calif.)
Challenger in October. 2015 photo by Paul Bauman 

   Sacramento, where Fritz outlasted Jared Donaldson 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 for the title, marked one of two recent all-U.S. teen Challenger finals. Rubin, a qualifier, saved two match points to beat Paul last month in a $50,000 tournament in Charlottesville, Va., for his first Challenger title.
   In the following two weeks, Tiafoe and Fritz advanced to the finals of $50,000 Challengers in Knoxville, Tenn., and Champaign, Ill., respectively.
   Meanwhile, three of the top four juniors in the International Tennis Federation's world rankings and four of the top 10 are American. Fritz is No. 1, followed by No. 3 Paul, No. 4 Opelka, and No. 10 Michael Mmoh (who was No. 2 in September before playing exclusively in pro tournaments).
  "I think (the future) looks good with everyone coming up because it's so deep," Fritz said in Sacramento. "There's not just one or two. There's a lot of people who can do well, and I think we're going to push each other. In the end, that's going to help us all."
   Denis Kudla, the only U.S. man to reach the second week of Wimbledon this year, agreed with Fritz about the young Americans.
   "I think they're very good," the 23-year-old Kudla, the sixth-ranked American at No. 69, said after falling to countryman and training partner Tim Smyczek in the final of the $100,000 Tiburon (Calif.) Challenger in October. "They have all the potential in the world to get to the top of the game, but it's going to come down to if they develop in the right way, if they become stronger mentally and physically, if they understand how to play this game the right way. It's not all about ball-striking ...
   "This game is so mental. Some people don't understand how mental it is. I think it's more mental than it is ball-striking. Everyone can hit the ball well, but if you play every single point and you're there mentally, you'll shock yourself how many matches you can win. The guy who's tougher mentally will beat a better ball-striker most of the time. That's the biggest thing, and obviously being in incredible shape because the game is so physical now."

Tommy Paul, 18, was the only American man to emerge from U.S. Open
qualifying. He is shown in a loss to 25th-seeded Andreas Seppi of Italy
in the first round. 2015 photo by Paul Bauman

   The USTA, faced with mounting criticism, intensified its player development efforts six years ago under general manager Patrick McEnroe. He announced in September 2014 that he was leaving the job after 6 1/2 years, and Martin Blackman was named as McEnroe's successor last April. Both are former Stanford players; Blackman is four years younger at 45.
   "We've been working a lot with this generation since they were 12, 13 years old and even before," Diego Moyano, a USTA lead national coach, said in Sacramento. "At the USTA, we've been putting a lot of attention on developing that generation and even the next one. We try to recognize talent at young ages and start working really hard helping parents and private coaches to develop them the best way we can. We started like six years ago, and we start seeing some of the results right now. It's a process that takes time.
   "We've been very strict on their development and are trying to push them to get better every day. So far, we are on the right track. Now we go to the next step, which is a very tough moment, the process of going from the best juniors to the best pro players they can."
   Indeed, success in juniors and Challengers guarantees nothing.
   Ten years ago, the Grand Slam junior boys champions were American Donald Young (Australian Open), Croatia's Marin Cilic (French Open), France's Jeremy Chardy (Wimbledon) and American Ryan Sweeting (U.S. Open). Cilic, last year's U.S. Open champion, is the only one to have reached a Grand Slam men's semifinal. Sweeting is best known as the estranged husband of "Big Bang Theory" star Kaley Cuoco.
  The record holder for most season singles titles on the USTA Pro Circuit, of which Challengers are the highest level, is American Ben McKown with seven in 1980. Remember him? Didn't think so.

Jared Donaldson, 19, is the highest-ranked U.S. teenager at No. 135
in the world. 2015 photo by Paul Bauman

   The good news for the United States is that in five years, Roger Federer will be 39, Rafael Nadal 34, and Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray 33.
   The bad news is that four teenagers from around the world are far ahead of the Americans. Borna Coric, 19, of Croatia is ranked 44th and already owns victories over Nadal and Murray. Two other 19-year-olds, Hyeon Chung of South Korea and 6-foot-5 (1.96-meter) Thanasi Kokkinakis of Australia, are ranked 51st and 80th, respectively. Six-foot-six (1.98-meter) Alexander Zverev, an 18-year-old German, is No. 83.
   The highest-ranked U.S. teenager is the 19-year-old Donaldson at No. 135.
   The U.S. teens come from diverse, and in many cases unusual, backgrounds. All have turned pro, and all but Mmoh have played in the Sacramento Challenger in the past three years. Tiafoe, Opelka and Paul, in addition to Fritz and Donaldson, competed there in October. Kozlov made his run last year, and Rubin appeared briefly two years ago.

The tennis family

   Pedigree, power and poise -- Fritz appears to be the whole package.
   His mother (Kathy May), father (Guy Fritz) and uncle (Harry Fritz) all played professionally. May climbed to No. 10 in the world and played in three Grand Slam quarterfinals. Guy is one of Taylor's coaches.

Fritz's serve is reminiscent of -- dare we say it? -- his idol Pete Sampras'.
2015 photo by Paul Bauman

   Taylor's parents weren't pushy, though. When asked the most important advice they have given him, Fritz said revealingly, "Have fun."
   Nor was Taylor needed as a cash cow. May comes from the family that started the May Company, a chain of Southern California department stores that merged with J.W. Robinson's in 1993 and Macy's in 2006.
   Fritz, from Rancho Santa Fe in the San Diego area, went to the USTA center in Boca Raton, Fla., two years ago to train.
   "When I first went there, there were like 16 kids, and I was the worst," Fritz said on espn.com. "There were 16 Americans, and I couldn't beat anyone. I was the worst one there. I just remember realizing that and thinking, 'Wow, I'm not as good as I thought I was.' Then I just was working insanely hard."
   Fritz developed a smooth, easy service motion reminiscent of -- dare we say it? -- Sampras'. That's no concidence; Sampras is Fritz's idol.
   "Just because he's a big-serving guy, a powerful player," the 6-foot-4 (1.93-meter) Fritz said of his fellow Southern Californian after winning the Fairfield title. "I just really like his game style. Most people think he's the best American tennis player of all time. I try to model my serve after him, too."
   Fritz, who turned 18 on Oct. 28, showed an uncanny ability to play his best under pressure en route to his titles in Sacramento and Fairfield. He saved three match points and 13 of 14 break points in his 6-7 (3), 7-6 (5), 7-6 (7) victory over third-seeded Dustin Brown, 30, in the second round in Sacramento. Fritz then disposed of Brown in 57 minutes for the Fairfield title.

Fritz has skyrocketed from No. 694 to No. 177
in eight weeks. 2015 photo by Paul Bauman

   Brown stunned Nadal on Center Court in the second round at Wimbledon this year to improve to 2-0 lifetime against the 14-time Grand Slam singles champion.
   Fritz escaped 15 of 16 break points in his 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 win over Donaldson in the Sacramento final and 13 of 14 in his five Fairfield matches combined.
   Matt Reid, a 25-year-old Australian, is 1-1 against Fritz. Reid won 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in the first round of a $10,000 Futures tournament in Costa Mesa in Southern California in September 2014, when Fritz was 16. Fritz triumphed 6-3, 7-6 (4) in the Sacramento semifinals in October.
   Reid recently recalled his first match against Fritz.
   "He was unknown to me back then," Reid admitted recently in Sacramento. "I thought it was going to be a great draw, but it was an absolute battle. I told him after the match he was going to be a great player, and he's already No. 1 in the world in the juniors, so he's started pretty quick.
   "On big points, he just came up massive. He believed in himself. Massive serve, massive forehand, and he kept calm the whole time. I thought straight away he was going to be really good, and sure enough, he's killing it in the juniors. It's good to see."
   That was before Fritz won the two straight Challengers and reached another final to rise to No. 177 in the world. Eight weeks ago, he was No. 694.

Out of Africa 

   It's a classic rags-to-(potential) riches story.
   As an emigrant from Sierra Leone in West Africa in the late 1990s, Constant Tiafoe took a job helping to build the Junior Tennis Champions Center in the Washington, D.C., suburb of College Park, Md., Sports Illustrated reported in June 2014.
   His twin sons, Frances and Franklin, hung out in a 140-square-foot room at the center and started to play tennis at age 3 or 4. Frances couldn't get enough of the game and developed quickly.

Tiafoe is "an incredible talent," said No. 69 Denis Kudla, who has known
Tiafoe since the prospect was 4 years old. 2015 photo by Paul Bauman

   "I've had my eye on Tiafoe for a long time," said Kudla, who grew up in Arlington, Va., in the Washington, D.C., area. "We come from the same club, and I've known him since he was 4 years old. He's an incredible talent. He has so much going for him. He has a huge upside.
   "His ball-striking and physical abilities are pretty incredible. He's an incredible mover, he reads the game so well, and he has every shot in the book. All he needs to get to the highest level is his mind, to be able to control his emotions and learn how to play this game the right way. He has all the talent in the world."
   Tiafoe, the youngest of the group at 17 (he was born 10 days after Mmoh), has skyrocketed from No. 816 in March to No. 180. He reached the semifinals in Fairfield and held two match points in a 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7) loss to the fourth-seeded Smyczek in the first round in Sacramento.
   After that match, Smyczek compared the 6-foot-2 (1.88-meter), 170-pound (77-kilogram) Tiafoe with Donaldson and Kozlov.
   "It's a little different style," said the 5-foot-9 (1.75-meter) Smyczek, who's 1-0 lifetime against Tiafoe, 3-2 against Donaldson and 2-1 against Kozlov. "He's miles ahead of those two physically. He's built like an ox. He's really fast but maybe a little less disciplined than a Donaldson and maybe doesn't have quite the same feel as a Kozlov. But he's an unbelievable shotmaker, and he doesn't lack in confidence. All three of those kids have a lot of confidence."
   Tiafoe, with his loose wrist, has an unorthodox yet overpowering serve and forehand. His two-handed backhand is a weapon, too. His biggest issue is a volatile temper.
   "I really want to be a top-10 pro, dominate the game and hopefully win a Grand Slam," Tiafoe said in October during the Sacramento Challenger. "Obviously, that's everyone's goal, but I really think I can do that, and I work toward that every day I step on the practice court. I give it my all every day."

The gaucho

   Donaldson has always been an outsider. He grew up in Rhode Island and trained on clay in Argentina for 2 1/2 years in his early teens. He works with the father-son team of former pro players Phil and Taylor Dent in Irvine, Calif., rather than with USTA coaches.

Donaldson has devastating flat groundstrokes
 on both sides. 2015 photo by Paul Bauman

   Why did Donaldson trek to Argentina? Why not go to Florida?
   "We looked into Florida and Spain, but I had a connection to Argentina through one of my coaches in Rhode Island," Donaldson -- who lived in Buenos Aires with his father, Courtney -- explained recently in Sacramento. "He lined up a coach and a place to stay. We took the risk and went down there, and I had a really good experience."
   Donaldson returned to the United States in early 2013. Eighteen months later, he reached his first Challenger semifinal, losing to Smyczek 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 in Napa. Afterward, Smyczek said the 6-foot-2 (1.88-meter) Donaldson has "a lot of potential. He's got a couple of big weapons (the serve and forehand), but the main thing is he's so solid with everything he does. You don't see that very often in a player his age.
   "Usually, good players his age have a glaring weakness, and he doesn't. He could be a heck of a player. He already is. If he keeps working hard -- he's got a great coach in Taylor Dent -- the sky's the limit. He's a great talent."
   Donaldson has a devastating flat forehand and two-handed backhand. After the seventh-seeded Donaldson's 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 victory over the top-seeded Kudla in the Sacramento semifinals in October, Kudla aptly said Donaldson "was lasering winners left and right. I did everything I could. ... "
   Though calmer than Tiafoe, Donaldson also might need to curb his emotions. Midway through the first set of the Sacramento final, he alienated the crowd by arguing with the chair umpire about line calls.

The new Isner

   Two nights before the start of qualifying for the recent Sacramento Challenger, tournament director Brian Martinez heard a loud pop on one of the courts. It was Opelka practicing with Paul.
   "He was just crushing forehands," Martinez recalled. "Very relaxed, very easy. ... He's like a young Isner who moves better. He has a better backhand than Isner does."
   Opelka, 18, has a huge upside, but at his height probably will take longer to develop than his peers. He's ranked only No. 975.
   "As tall as (Opelka) is, he's a very good athlete," Moyano stated. "He moves really well. He has a massive serve. Technically from the ground, he's very good.
   "As tall as he is, obviously there are more pieces to put together, but he understands that. He's working on his baseline game as well as his net game. That's something he needs to improve and understand -- how to move to the net and maybe accept that he's going to miss a little bit more than the other guys (from the baseline)."

The 6-foot-11 (2.11-meter) Reilly Opelka
"has a massive serve," USTA coach Diego
Moyano said. 2015 photo by Paul Bauman

   Denmark's Frederik Nielsen, who won the 2012 Wimbledon men's doubles title with Jonathan Marray of Great Britain, beat Opelka 6-2, 6-4 in the second round of Sacramento qualifying in October.
   "With a serve like (Opelka's) and you're already at (the Challenger) level, you have great potential," Nielsen observed. "The top hundred is a given. From there, I find it very difficult to tell what separates the guys. The next few years will show mentally what it takes (for him) to get to the next level."
   As with the 6-foot-10 (2.08-meter) Isner and 6-foot-11 (2.11-meter) Ivo Karlovic, the racket looks like a Ping-Pong paddle in Opelka's hands.
   Isner, a 30-year-old product of Greensboro, N.C., reached a career-high No. 9 in 2012. Karlovic, a 36-year-old Croatian, climbed as high as No. 14 in 2008.
   Whereas Isner played at the University of Georgia for four years, Opelka turned pro in April at 17.
   En route to becoming the only wild cards to win the Wimbledon men's doubles title, Nielsen and Marray dominated Karlovic and 6-foot-5 (1.96-meter) Frank Moser of Germany 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 in the second round.
   "Karlovic has a better serve (than Opelka)," Nielsen asserted. "Opelka is better from the backcourt, especially at this age. Right now, Ivo is very good from the back, but at that age, he wasn't.
  "It's important for Opelka to be ambitious on his second serve. I felt his second serve was a little to predictable."
   Karlovic and Isner both have reached one Grand Slam singles quarterfinal, their best result in a major. Can Opelka, who was born in Michigan and moved with his family to Palm Coast, Fla., (near Daytona) at age 4, become a threat to win a Slam?
   "It's very difficult for me to say," Nielsen cautioned. "You can see even guys with big serves -- Isner and Karlovic -- none of them have really made a run in a Grand Slam yet, so it takes more than that. The game is getting more and more physical. The baseline game is very important. People have such good defense and counter-attacking abilities, it takes a lot more (than a big serve). It takes a lot of willpower; it takes a lot of mental strength.
   "I don't know (about Opelka's chances to win a Slam). Stranger things have happened."

The new Monfils

   With his powerful serve and outrageous physical ability, the 17-year-old Mmoh has been compared to former world No. 7 Gael Monfils of France.

   "Michael is one of the most athletic people you will ever see on a tennis court," Opelka, a close friend of Mmoh's, told The New York Times in September. "There is nothing he can't do out there." 

Michael Mmoh, 17, "is one of the most athletic people you will ever see
on a tennis court," Opelka told The New York Times. 2015 photo by
Garrett Ellwood/USTA

 This year, the 6-foot-1 (1.85-meter), 187-pound (85-kilogram) Mmoh:
   --Reached the boys semifinals of the Australian Open and French Open.
   --Hit with Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon.
   --Won two U.S. Futures titles.
   --Advanced to the quarterfinals of the $50,000 Las Vegas Tennis Open in October, dispatching countryman and former top-50 player Ryan Harrison, 6-2, 6-3 in the first round before losing to eventual champion Thiemo de Bakker.
   --Jumped from No. 659 in January to No. 456.
   Mmoh is a one-man United Nations. He was born in Saudi Arabia to Tony Mmoh, a former journeyman professional and Olympian from Nigeria, and Geraldine O'Reilly, an Irishwoman who also holds Australian citizenship.
   Tony was coaching the Saudi Arabian Davis Cup team, and Geraldine, an avid tennis fan, was working in Saudi Arabia as a nurse at the time, the Times reported.
   Michael was named after Michael Jordan. Tony became infatuated with the NBA legend while attending St. Augustine's College (now St. Augustine's University) in North Carolina and becoming a U.S. citizen. Michael moved from Saudi Arabia to Bradenton, Fla., at 12 to train at the IMG Academy and still is based there.
   Although Mmoh plays for the United States, he could choose to represent Nigeria, Ireland, Australia or perhaps Saudi Arabia.

How Swede it is

   After overpowering Kozlov 6-3, 6-4 to win last year's Sacramento Challenger, U.S. Davis Cup veteran Sam Querrey predicted stardom for the 16-year-old phenom.
   "He's got every shot in the book," declared the 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Querrey, who ascended to a career-high No. 17 in 2011. "If he keeps on the path he's on, he can be a top-10 player one day."
   Kozlov had earned his first win over a top-100 player in the semifinals, edging the second-seeded and 99th-ranked Smyczek 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (1).
   Smyczek assessed Kozlov's game afterward.
   "He plays a real unconventional style ... " Smyczek observed. "He uses the slice a lot -- (including on) the forehand, which you don't see much -- and he's good at sneaking into the net and knocking volleys off. You don't see the variety that he brings very much."
   Three weeks before the tournament, commentator and U.S. Davis Cup captain Courier discussed Kozlov on Tennis Channel.

Kozlov has top-10 potential, according to U.S. Davis Cup veteran
Sam Querrey. 2014 photo by Paul Bauman

   "USTA coaches have been talking to me about Kozlov for three years," Courier revealed. "His biggest asset is his mind. He's a very crafty player with a lot of variety. He'll be in the top 50 by the time he's 20."
   Kozlov and his younger tennis-playing brother, Boris, were named after Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker, respectively.
   Stefan was born in Macedonia and moved to South Florida with his Russian parents when he was 1. His father, Andrei, runs the Kozlov Miami Tennis Academy in Pembroke Pines, Fla.
   "We don't live in the biggest house or have the nicest cars," Kozlov, who turned pro at 14, said after shocking Smyczek. "We grind day by day. If I do well here, I'm earning money for my family and my brother so he can travel to tournaments. I'm not playing for myself. I'm playing for my family. I'm playing for a lot of things."
   Since last year's breakthrough in Sacramento, the 6-foot (1.83-meter) Kozlov has improved from No. 443 to No. 353. He did not return to California's capital this year, opting for a series of Futures tournament in Europe.
   Kozlov recorded his second career win over a top-100 player three weeks ago, routing then-No. 97 Malek Jaziri of Tunisia 6-1, 6-2 in the first round in Knoxville before losing to Dennis Novikov of Milpitas in the San Francisco Bay Area in the second round.

You Cannot Be Serious

   Rubin, 19, grew up playing at the John McEnroe Tennis Academy in the New York area.
   McEnroe has said Rubin, only 5-foot-10 (1.78 meters) and 155 pounds (70 kilograms), has top-50 potential "at a minimum."
   As a 17-year-old wild card, Rubin lost in the first round of the 2013 Sacramento Challenger to Smyczek, the second seed and eventual runner-up to Young, 7-6 (3), 6-0.

Diminutive Noah Rubin has top-50 potential "at a minimum," his mentor,
John McEnroe, has said. 2013 photo by Paul Bauman

   Rubin turned pro in May after reaching the NCAA final as a freshman at Wake Forest. He has catapulted from No. 1,050 in June to No. 340 and won the recent Australian Open Wild Card Challenge by amassing the most points among Americans in two of three events (Charlottesville, Knoxville and Champaign).
   Rubin earned a wild card in the Australian Open in January when Fritz lost to Henri Laaksonen of Switzerland in the Champaign final two weeks ago.
   "It's probably the first time I had to rely on somebody else to lose for me to win, in a match I had nothing to do with," Rubin, who made his Grand Slam debut in the 2014 U.S. Open and lost in the first round as a wild card, told atpworldtour.com. "I didn't expect that outcome, but I'm excited to see what's going to come in the future. I've never been to the Australian Open before, even for juniors. I'm going to have to get acclimated to the temperature for sure, but I'm just excited about going there.
   "The goal is to have no goals. Anything can happen so quickly. It's just about having the mindset of being open and ready for anything. I was ranked No. 1,000 going out of school, and now I'm around No. 350 In a couple tournaments, I could be No. 250. It could happen so quickly. Just be ready for anything."

The baseline basher

   Kudla defeated the 6-foot-2 (1.88-meter) Paul 6-4, 6-2 in the second round in Sacramento in October but raved about him afterward.

Paul "hits an unbelievably big ball," Kudla marveled after beating him
in the Sacramento Challenger in October. 2015 photo by Paul Bauman

   "He hits an unbelievably big ball," Kudla marveled of the 18-year-old Paul, who has soared from No. 610 in May to No. 274. "We played in Cincinnati (in August, with Kudla winning by the odd score of 6-2, 0-6, 6-0), and I already feel like he's improved since then. It was a different scoreline, but still, he has every single shot. For him, it's a matter of keeping his game a little more organized. Then I think he can shoot through the rankings (to the top 100) pretty quick.
   "He's a little erratic out there. Some of his shots have no purpose. When those are landing in, great, but a lot of times against a higher-ranked player, they get those back, it's a little tough, and you don't really know what else you can do."
   Paul, who grew up playing on clay in North Carolina, insists that repeated reminders of the United States' Grand Slam drought don't bother him.
   Paul noted that he and the other U.S. prospects "all know it, definitely, but I'm not getting tired of it because it kind of pushes all of us to see how good we can get and see if one of us can maybe do it one day."

Good news, bad news for U.S. men

John Isner rose three notches to No. 10 in the
world by reaching the semifinals at Indian Wells.
2012 photo by Paul Bauman

   The good news for the United States is that an American man returned to the top 10 in the world this week.
   The bad news is that -- brace yourself -- only one U.S. man is ranked in the top 60.
   John Isner, 6-foot-10 (2.08 meters), rose three notches to No. 10 by reaching the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. It's the first time a U.S. man has been ranked in the top 10 since Isner reached No. 10 in September 2012. His career high is No. 9 in April 2012.
   Isner is one of five American men in the top 100. Then come Sam Querrey, a 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) San Francisco native, at No. 62; former Stanford star Bradley Klahn at No. 63; Donald Young at No. 77; and Tim Smyczek at No. 98.
   Twenty years ago, the United States had four men in the top 10, 12 in the top 60 and 19 in the top 100.
   Both Isner and Querrey won Northern California titles in their professional debuts.
   Isner captured a Futures championship in Shingle Springs, a Sacramento suburb, in 2007 after graduating from the University of Georgia.
   Querrey earned a Challenger crown in Yuba City, a one-hour drive north of Sacramento, in 2006 after graduating from Thousand Oaks High School in the Los Angeles area.

COLLEGE RESULTS

Thursday

Men

   Sacramento State def. Maryland-Baltimore County 4-2 in Sacramento. No. 1 singles: Justin Carter (MBC) def. Roy Brandys 6-3, 6-3. Records: Sac State 6-11, Maryland-Baltimore County 9-6.

Women

   Sacramento State def. Maryland-Baltimore County 4-0 in Sacramento. No. 1 singles: Daria Savchenko vs. Kim Berghaus 6-7, unfinished. Clinching match: At No. 4, Olivia Boija def. Madlena Kurasz 6-3, 6-1. Records: Sac State 5-8, Maryland-Baltimore County 6-7. Note: Sac State's No. 1 singles player, Jennifer Nguyen, missed the match with an injury.

Wednesday

Men

   Hawaii def. USF 6-1 in Honolulu. No. 1 singles: Bernardo Saraiva (USF) def. Jonathan Brooklyn 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (6). Clinching match: At No. 3, Chas Okamoto def. Thomas Takemoto 7-6 (4), 7-5. Records: Hawaii 2-8, USF 8-8. Note: The Rainbow Warriors ended an eight-match losing streak.

Women

   USF def. Loyola Marymount 7-0 in San Francisco. No. 1 singles: Andrea Ka def. Jessica Perez 6-1, 6-4. Records: USF 11-4 overall, 1-2 West Coast Conference; Loyola Marymount 6-9, 0-2.
   San Jose State def. Texas-Arlington 4-0 in San Jose. No. 1 singles: Marie Klocker def. Elizabeth Thoms 6-2, 6-2. Clinching match: At No. 2, Gaelle Rey def. Giada D'ortona 6-3, 6-4. Records: San Jose State 9-10, Texas-Arlington 8-7.

U.S. men record dubious first; adieu, Marion

John Isner, the top-ranked American man, fell out
of the top 20 this week but will return on Monday.
He'll face Rafael Nadal in Sunday's Cincinnati final.
2012 photo by Paul Bauman

   The unthinkable happened this week.
   For the first time in the 40-year history of the men's world rankings, no American man can be found in the top 20. The top U.S. man, 6-foot-10 (2.08-meter) John Isner, dropped from No. 20 to No. 22 on Monday.
   Andy Roddick, who retired last September after leading U.S. men's tennis for most of the previous 10 years, recently lamented the decline.
   "Throwing out statistics, like it's the first time since such-and-such, is fair journalism," Roddick, who won the 2003 U.S. Open for the last Grand Slam singles title by an American man, was quoted as saying in the New York Times. "That's a fact. I think I'm more concerned with what's going to happen to make it right and make it better. The other thing that seems painfully obvious when you say stuff like that is how spoiled we've been."
  Roddick was referring to International Tennis Hall of Famers Pete Sampras (14 Grand Slam singles titles), Jimmy Connors (eight), Andre Agassi (eight), Jim Courier (four) and Michael Chang (one) and himself.
   All is not lost for the United States, however. Far from it.
   Isner, whose devastating serve is the biggest weapon in men's tennis, will return to the top 20 on Monday. He has beaten three consecutive top-10 players -- No. 10 Milos Raonic of Canada, No. 1 Novak Djokovic and No. 7 Juan Martin del Potro (saving one match point) -- to reach Sunday's final in Cincinnati against third-ranked Rafael Nadal (CBS, 9:30 a.m. PDT).
   That makes Isner a threat to win the U.S. Open, Aug. 26-Sept. 9. The questions are whether the 28-year-old native of Greensboro, N.C., can hold up physically over two weeks of best-of-five-set matches and handle the pressure of playing in his home country.
   Isner has never advanced past the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament, but six years after winning a $15,000 tournament in the Sacramento suburb of Shingle Springs in his professional debut, this could be his time. He reached the quarters of the 2011 U.S. Open.
   The next American in the rankings, Sam Querrey, is No. 28 after reaching a career-high No. 17 in 2011. The 25-year-old San Francisco native, 6-foot-6 (1.96 meters), has played part-time for the Sacramento Capitals of World TeamTennis for the past two seasons.
   The United States' top prospects appear to be Jack Sock, ranked a career-high No. 87 at 20 years old, and Ryan Harrison, ranked No. 102 at 21 years old.
   Sock won the 2011 U.S. Open mixed doubles title with Melanie Oudin two weeks after turning 19 and the singles crown at the Tiburon Challenger in the San Francisco Bay area last October. Harrison climbed as high as No. 43 in the world last summer.
   Then there are Bob and Mike Bryan, widely regarded as the greatest doubles team ever with a record 15 Grand Slam men's doubles titles. The 35-year-old identical twins and former Stanford stars will seek the biggest accomplishment of their careers, a calendar-year Grand Slam, in the U.S. Open.

Marion Bartoli retired two months after winning Wimbledon
for her first Grand Slam women's singles title. 2012 photo
by Paul Bauman

   Bartoli retirement -- Tennis lost a true gem when Marion Bartoli of France abruptly announced her retirement at 28 on Wednesday because of numerous injuries. Only two months beforehand, Bartoli won Wimbledon for her first Grand Slam women's singles title.
   Everything about Bartoli was unusual -- her background, appearance, playing style, intelligence and personality.
   Bartoli grew up not on the sunny Riviera or in bustling Paris but in a snowy village in central France. She was taught not by French Tennis Federation coaches but by her physician father, Walter.
   Stocky for a pro player at 5-foot-6 (1.70 meters) and 139 pounds (63 kilograms), Bartoli employed a quirky serve and, like Hall of Famer Monica Seles, a two-handed forehand and backhand. Between points, she practiced her strokes as if she were a beginner.
   Off the court, Bartoli was down to earth, thoughtful and candid. Reputedly, she has a genius IQ.
   Bartoli played in the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford for 11 consecutive years (2003-12), winning the title in 2009 and reaching the final in 2008 and 2011. Her news conference after she upset Venus Williams in the 2009 final was a classic. Here are some highlights:
   --"I give absolutely everything on the court. That's probably my biggest strength."
   --"The French federation used to tell me, 'Your dad is so stupid. He's an idiot. There's no way you can be a tennis player with him on your side.' I was looking at Venus when she was 14 or 15 and Serena. (Their father) was making them be No. 1 in the world. I was telling (the federation), 'You see, Venus came to be No. 1 with her dad on her side. Monica, too.' "
   --"I was always very ambitious. When I was 4 or 5, I told my dad, 'One day, I want to be the prime minister of France.' I remember always telling myself, 'I don't want to stay in this village forever. I want to go to the bigger city, travel the world, do something different and take my dad out of this village that doesn't see him work almost 18 hours a day and doesn't respect him.' "
   Mission accomplished.   

Bob Bryan gains milestone; Querrey withdraws

  Bob Bryan recorded his 800th career doubles victory after he and Mike Bryan won two matches Thursday to reach the semifinals of the U.S. Clay Court Championships in Houston, according to atpworldtour.com.
   Bob Bryan became the third man to win 800 matches, joining Daniel Nestor (885) and Mike Bryan (814).
 The Bryans, former NCAA champions from Stanford, have 799 victories together. The identical twins and sons of Sacramento Capitals coach Wayne Bryan will turn 35 on April 29.
   The Bryans have won the Houston title four times (2007, 2009-11). James Blake and Sam Querrey won it last year.
   Querrey, a San Francisco native and part-time member of the Capitals in World TeamTennnis, withdrew from the Houston tournament with a strained right chest muscle. The top-ranked American at No. 20 in the world said he'll take the next three weeks off.

U.S. could have no men in top 20 after Indian Wells

John Isner, shown at Indian Wells in 2012,
was upset by Lleyton Hewitt in this year's
tournament. Photo by Paul Bauman

   John Isner's slump continued Saturday, which is bad news for U.S. men's tennis.
   Very bad.
   The United States, a tennis power throughout the 1900s, already has no men in the top 10 in the world. Come March 18, when the next rankings are released, there's a good chance that the nation will have no one in the top 20.
   As John McEnroe once famously said, you cannot be serious.
   The 6-foot-9 (2.06-meter) Isner, who missed the Australian Open in January with a knee injury, lost to 32-year-old Lleyton Hewitt 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-4 in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. Hewitt won the title there an eternity ago -- in 2002 and 2003.
   "It was a tough match," Isner told reporters. "I knew it was going to be. Lleyton is such a good competitor. I felt like I could have played a little bit better. I needed to play very well to win today, and I don't feel like I necessarily did that. But I think Lleyton had a lot to do with it. It's very disappointing.
    "But I believe things will get better. ... Just gotta keep plugging away."
   Isner, the top American at No. 15, nevertheless will plummet in the rankings after reaching last year's final at Indian Wells. He beat top-ranked Novak Djokovic, the defending champion, in the semifinals before losing to Roger Federer.
   The rankings operate on a rotating 52-week basis. Therefore, Isner's results from Indian Wells last year are replaced on the computer by his results there this year. Everything else being equal, he would have had to reach this year's final just to stay No. 15.

Sam Querrey, shown at Indian Wells in 2012,
likely will replace John Isner as the top-ranked
American man. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Sam Querrey, a 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) native of San Francisco, likely will replace Isner as the top American. Querrey, though, faces a tall order -- literally -- trying to rise from No. 23 in the world. He is scheduled to meet 6-foot-10 (2.08-meter) qualifier Ivo Karlovic of Croatia today in the second round after losing at that stage last year at Indian Wells.
   Karlovic, 34, held the record for the world's fastest serve at 156 mph (251 kph) until Samuel Groth of Australia was credited with a 163.4-mph (263-kph) missile last year.
   Although five other Americans reside in the top 100, the only possible bright spot is 20-year-old prospect Ryan Harrison at No. 73 in the world.
   No. 32 Mardy Fish is 31 years old with heart trouble. No. 56 Brian Baker, who returned to the tour last year after missing six years because of five major operations, underwent surgery for a torn meniscus in January. No. 70 Michael Russell is 34 years old and only 5-foot-8 (1.73 meters) in an era of power. No. 99 James Blake is 33 years old.
   Meanwhile, two of Querrey's teammates on the Sacramento Capitals in World TeamTennis last season also made news at Indian Wells on Saturday.
   South Africa's Kevin Anderson, a 6-foot-8 (2.03-meter) right-hander playing in his second tournament since undergoing right elbow surgery, ousted fourth-seeded David Ferrer 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the second round.
   Fish, playing his first official match in six months because of an irregular heartbeat, teamed with Blake to beat Spaniards David Marrero and Fernando Verdasco 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of doubles. Blake and Fish are wild cards.
   Fish is scheduled to play the first singles match of his comeback today against qualifier Bobby Reynolds, another American in his 30s, today in the second round. Fish, seeded 32nd, received a first-round bye. 

COLLEGE SCORES

Men

   Texas-Arlington def. Sacramento State 4-3 in Sacramento. No. 1 singles: Marek Marksoo (SS) def. Yauheni Yakauleu 7-6 (3), 6-3. Records: Texas-Arlington 4-4, Sac State 3-8.
   Sacramento State def. Northern Arizona 4-3 in Sacramento: No. 1 singles: Marek Marksoo (SS) def. Shaun Waters 6-4, 6-4. Records: Sac State 4-8, Northern Arizona 2-11.
   Nevada def. UC Davis 5-2 in Davis. No. 1 singles: Kyle Miller (UCD) def. Victor Ouvrard 7-6, 6-3. Records: Nevada 7-4, UC Davis 6-7.
   Pacific def. Santa Clara 4-3 in Santa Clara. No. 1 singles: No. 66 John Lamble (SC) def. Alex Golding 6-1, 6-3. Records: Pacific 8-4, Santa Clara 10-5.
   Boise State def. USF 6-1 in San Francisco. No. 1 singles: No. 30 Andrew Bettles (BSU) def. Thai Tu 7-6 (6), 6-7 (5), 10-6 match tiebreaker.

Women

   No. 18 Cal def. No. 31 Washington in Berkeley. No. 1 singles: No. 8 Anett Schutting (C) def. No. 124 Andjela Nemcevic 6-1, 6-1. Records: Cal 7-4, Washington 8-5.
   No. 20 Stanford def. No. 73 Washington State 7-0 at Stanford. No. 1 singles: No. 87 Nicole Gibbs (S) def. Liudmila Vasilieva 6-1, 6-1. Records: Stanford 7-2, Washington State 10-4.
   No. 66 San Jose State def. Southern Utah 7-0 in San Jose. No. 1 singles: Sebastiani Leon Chao (SJS) def. Olya Kunz 6-1, 6-2. Records: San Jose State 8-4, Southern Utah 2-3.
   USF def. Northern Arizona 7-0 in San Francisco. No. 1 singles: Andrea Ka (USF) def. Ghizelene Doballah 6-0, 6-0. Records: USF 6-3, Northern Arizona 6-7.

Is U.S. tennis really that bad?

Serena Williams defeated CoCo Vandeweghe in an
All-American final at the Bank of the West Classic
at Stanford in July. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Seemingly for an eternity, the tennis media have moaned about the woeful state of U.S. tennis.
   The refrain goes something like this: No U.S. man has won a Grand Slam singles since Andy Roddick in 2003, and No. 4 Serena Williams is the only American-born woman ranked among the top 25 in the world.
   Judging by the media's hysteria, you'd think that the nation were on the verge of collapse. Well, it is, but that's unrelated to tennis.
   In reality, the state of U.S. tennis is not nearly as dire as it's portrayed. How bad can it be when arguably the greatest women's singles player, the greatest men's doubles team and the greatest women's doubles team in history are active and a future men's International Tennis Hall of Famer just retired?
   The United States is still cranking out Grand Slam champions, following in the tradition of players such as Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Lindsay Davenport, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Jim Courier and Michael Chang.
   Serena Williams won her 15th Grand Slam singles title, sixth all time, on Sunday. Sports Illustrated's L. Jon Wertheim -- the best tennis writer, if not best sportswriter, period, in the country -- proclaimed her the greatest female player in history in 2010.
   Venus Williams has captured a mere seven Grand Slam singles titles, tied for 12th all time, and the Williams sisters rank fourth in history with 13 major women's doubles crowns.
   As for men's singles, the United States has endured droughts before. After McEnroe won the last Grand Slam singles title of his career in the 1984 U.S. Open, no American man prevailed in a major from 1985 through 1988. That was the era of Mats Wilander and Stefan Edberg of Sweden, Ivan Lendl of Czechoslovakia, Boris Becker of Germany and Pat Cash of Australia.
   Everyone wondered what was wrong with U.S. tennis. Then Sampras, Agassi, Courier and Chang combined for 27 Grand Slam singles crowns from 1989 to 2003.
   Roddick retired at 30 after losing to Juan Martin del Potro on Thursday in the fourth round of the U.S. Open. Although he won only one Grand Slam title, he reached four more major finals, losing to Roger Federer every time. On Tennis Channel in March, Federer was ranked the greatest player ever by an international panel of experts.
   Arguably, if not for one shot, the conversation about U.S. tennis would be much different. Roddick had four set points in the second-set tiebreaker of his 5-7, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5), 3-6, 16-14 loss in the 2009 Wimbledon final. On the last set point, Roddick missed a relatively easy high backhand volley. Had Roddick made that shot, he probably would have won the match, which he almost did anyway.
   In men's doubles, Bob and Mike Bryan captured their 12th Grand Slam crown Friday. That broke the Open Era record they had shared with Australians Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde and tied Aussies John Newcombe and Tony Roche for the most ever.
   So why all the hand-wringing and teeth-gnashing? One wonders if racism is involved, as if the Williams sisters' achievements don't count. And doubles is so far off the radar that you need a telescope to find it. Doubles doesn't get nearly the respect that it deserves -- including the ridiculous abbreviated scoring format -- from the top players, the media and the fans.
   True, the United States does not have the singles depth it once enjoyed. As in every other field, the rest of the world has caught up. It's called globalization. The days when the United States and Australia dominated tennis are long gone, and that's not such a bad thing. The game is far more competitive now.
   Nevertheless, the United States has plenty of prospects.
   On the men's side, 6-foot-10 John Isner (27) is a Grand Slam threat. Ryan Harrison, ranked No. 55 at 20 years old, is the second-youngest player in the top 100 behind 19-year-old Bernard Tomic of Australia at No. 42. Harrison and his younger brother, 18-year-old Christian, reached the quarterfinals in men's doubles
at this year's U.S. Open. Ryan has said Christian is better than he is.
   Jack Sock, 19, has made a splash at the U.S. Open for the past three years, winning the boys singles title in 2010, taking the mixed doubles title with Melanie Oudin last year and teaming with Steve Johnson to knock off top-seeded Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor in the first round of men's doubles this year.
   Meanwhile, the United States has three women 20 or younger in the top 100: Christina McHale (20 years old) at No. 30, Sloane Stephens (19) at No. 38 and CoCo Vandeweghe (20) at No. 88.
   During the U.S. Open, Tennis Channel analyst and former No. 1 doubles player Rennae Stubbs called Stephens "definitely a star in the making."
   Mallory Burdette recently reached the third round of the U.S. Open, then decided to forgo her senior year at Stanford and turn pro. Madison Keys is ranked No. 167 at 17 years old, Samantha Crawford (17) just won the U.S. Open girls singles title, and Taylor Townsend (16) is the top-ranked junior in the world.
   Not to worry, American fans. The United States will produce more Grand Slam champions. It always does.