Where are America's future tennis champions?
Serena and Venus Williams may still be the players to beat on the women's circuit while Andy Roddick has enjoyed a recent renaissance on the men's tour but strip away this illustrious trio and there are real fears for the future of American tennis.
Roddick remains the only U.S. male in the top 10 of the ATP Tour rankings, with John Isner and Sam Querrey solid performers in the 20s.
On the WTA Tour, Serena and Venus are at No. 1 and No.4 but then there is a gap to promising teenager Melanie Oudin at 36, with three other women occupying spots in the lower reaches of the top 100.
For a nation with the tennis pedigree of the United States, and with its three standard bearers in their late 20s, it is a worrying trend which Roddick says is a product of the talent pool in the United States being diluted.
Are Federer's rivals pretenders to the throne?
"I think our best athletes probably get spread out across 10 or 12 different sports," he told CNN in an exclusive interview.
"Where in Serbia -- with the success of Novak (Djokovic) and the other girls on tour and guy players too. It's kind of become the sport there.
"Their best athletes -- have been funneled into tennis. In the States -- I feel like it's funneled into football, baseball, and basketball. There are so many different options that it might water down the talent pool for a given sport," he added.
Nick Bollettieri, whose famous tennis academy has produced the likes of Andre Agassi and Maria Sharapova, agrees with Roddick.
"Look you have cheerleading, you have basketball, you have lacrosse, you have basketball, football, you have everything," he told CNN.
"You have marathons, running, we have a variety of things. I believe you have to go for one sport and dedicate your life to it and also have some talent."
Bollettieri also believes the worldwide growth of tennis with many more countries now producing top-ranked players is responsible for the relative decline in U.S. standards.
"Let's go back to the 80's and 90's. Basically there were six countries playing and we certainly we were right up on top and if you look at the world today you have China -- unbelievable ladies and India, you have Japan, the Czech Republic, you have Serbia, you have everybody playing," he said.
Bollettieri also questions the failure of U.S. tennis to discover talent at grassroots level from working class backgrounds.
"How many of the kids playing today come from poor families? How many have come from the inner city where there is a possibility they can be somebody? It is very difficult today in America to get players to commit," he added.
In response to the problem, the U.S. Tennis Association (USTA) has charged Patrick McEnroe with developing its elite young players, combining this role with captaining their Davis Cup team.
McEnroe, whose brother John topped the world rankings in the 1980s, agrees with Roddick about the attractions of other sports, but is not going to make it an excuse for failure.
"We've got to do a better job," he told CNN. "We need to find those players and train them more systematically."
He says he has been given sufficient funding and resources by the USTA, but says no amount of money can develop a grand slam winner if the talent is not there.
"I'm not sure you could create a champion. I'm not sure that's possible, but I think you can create an environment where you will get a lot of really good players, hopefully if you do that, you will get the Serena Williams, the Andy Roddicks." he added.
Pete Sampras, the last American man to top the world rankings, has no doubt the USTA made the right choice in selecting McEnroe to his role two years ago.
"Patrick is a good friend, a great Davis Cup captain and a solid ambassador for the sport of tennis. I wish him nothing but the best and will help in any way I can," he told the USTA official Web site.
Despite the support for McEnroe, the flow of young U.S. talent onto the professional circuit remains a trickle rather than the hoped for flood.
Current hopes are the Harrisons, 17-year-old Ryan and his younger brother Christian, who are both at the Bollettieri Academy.
Ryan became the third-youngest player to win an ATP Tour match at 15 and Bollettieri believes he has the talent to make it to the top from his current ranking in the mid 200s.
"He certainly has the ingredients and that is what this academy does. It provides the basis and then it is up to you and how you want to compete and if you can deal with competition," he added.
Despite the talent of the likes of the Harrisons and more established young players such as Oudin and Isner, Bollettieri does not believe that future success is guaranteed.
"Pat has got a tough job, not impossible but he is the one who is going to have to go out, get all the good coaches, support them and get the good players with the good players and work with the colleges.
"But you are still going to have to seek out the hungry athletes," he added.
In the meantime, Roddick, who scored a superb victory in the Miami Masters 100 tournament recently, is hoping that Isner and Querrey can step up to the plate to give him some support in the upper echelons of the world game.
"I've been real excited that Sam and John have been playing well. I'm certainly always welcome to have some home company in the top ten or so," he said.
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Oudin battles past Peng
American Melanie Oudin shruggd off a slow start to battle to a 2-6, 7-5, 7-5 victory over China' Peng Shuai, reaching the quarter-finals of the 220,000-dollar WTA green clay tournament.
"t took everything,"said Oudin, who lost the first 10 points of the match but went on to triumph in two hours, 27 minutes.
"I was looking forward to winning a point," she said.
Oudin, seeded eighth, found her feet in the second, taking a 3-0 lead, but Peng battled back to level the set.
"From there it was neck and neck the rest of the way," Oudin said.
A key moment for Oudin came at 5-5 in the second trailing 0-40. She managed to hold serve.
"That was a huge game to win because she would have been serving for the second set," Oudin said.
Oudin next faces fourth-seeded Elena Vesnina of Russia, a 6-3, 6-2 winner over Germany's Julia Gorges.
Varvara Lepchenko, who got in the tournament as a lucky loser when France's Virginie Razzano withdrew, booked a quarter-final berth with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Angelique Kerber of Germany.
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Melanie Oudin carries American hopes into Ponte Vedra BeachMelanie Oudin has fond memories of the U.S. Open.
Years before she burst onto the American tennis scene there, Flushing Meadows was where Oudin realized she wanted to be a professional tennis player.
Sitting in the stands watching the pros play, the then-preteen knew she wanted to be on the U.S. Open stage some day.
Last September, she made her entrance - in a big way - with a stunning run to the quarterfinals, defeating Russian stars Elena Dementieva, Maria Sharapova and Nadia Petrova.
But the 18-year-old, who will be the top-ranked American in this week's MPS Group Championships in Ponte Vedra Beach, won more than matches in Arthur Ashe Stadium - she won hearts.
Thousands of fans cheered Oudin (pronounced oo-DAN) through every point. Even her quarterfinal loss to eventual runner-up Caroline Wozniacki was met with a standing ovation.
"I had never, ever seen that amount of support for anyone," Oudin said recently in a conference call interview. "I had never realized that it could be that helpful in a tournament, and it really did help me.
"I felt like I was not just playing for myself. I felt like I was playing for all those people, as well."
That support comes with a price: the weight of expectations.
By the end of Oudin's run, many fans were already buzzing about the "future" of American tennis. Her performance, along with a run to the fourth round of Wimbledon as a qualifier, earned her the WTA Tour's 2009 Newcomer of the Year award.
Being the next great American hope is a burden Oudin doesn't mind carrying. But she wouldn't mind sharing it, either.
At No. 42, Oudin is currently the third-highest ranked American on the WTA Tour, behind Serena Williams (No. 1) and Venus Williams (No. 5). There are six American women in the top 100.
Oudin, a native of Marietta, Ga., said before that number can increase, American tennis players need to learn to see each other's success as a good thing.
"Everyone is really competitive," she said. "You have to be competitive to be good at this sport, but I think that there's competitiveness and then there's being able to push each other without being jealous.
"Jealousy is good sometimes because it makes you want to be better. But you should want your fellow Americans to do well because if they're doing well, you're going to want to do well also."
Oudin, who hopes to be in the top 30 by the French Open this year, said her success last season was a positive step for U.S. tennis, because it gives other Americans her age the belief that they can match - or surpass - her accomplishment.
Just as she was inspired by the pros years ago, Oudin has become an inspiration. Parents at the RCS Academy where she trains in Norcross, Ga., have already begun telling her she's now their daughter's favorite player.
"It really makes me realize that what I'm doing is what I should be doing," Oudin said, "and that I do set a good example by just enjoying and loving the game."
But she admits all the extra attention has taken some getting used to - particularly fans interrupting her family's dinner at a restaurant to ask for an autograph.
"Sometimes I think to myself 'You really want my picture or my autograph?' " she said.
But it's that humility and her ability to stay grounded even in the glare of the spotlight that has endeared Oudin to thousands of fans.
"I'm not anything different than I was before the U.S. Open," she said. "I think that's what draws a lot of people to watching me and wanting to get to know me, because I seem so normal, just like a normal teenager, which is exactly what I am.
"I just happened to have [played] a really good U.S. Open."
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Venus, Clijsters should excel in Miami action
In Indian Wells, conservative tennis and collapses were the rule among the WTA's stars. In Miami, I'm predicting (and hoping, hoping, hoping) for a return to offensive-minded tennis and clutch performances. The conditions should be right: Slightly faster courts, more humidity, and less wind mean more incentive to play aggressively. Serena Williams certainly would be, if she weren't skipping one of her favorite events to rest her injured knee (she has won this title five times, most recently in 2008). It's up to Venus to keep this tournament in the family. Here's saying she will.
First Quarter
Svetlana Kuznetsova is the top seed for the second tournament in a row, and this time she has a good draw to go with the No. 1. The Russian could face Alicia Molik, who looked good in Indian Wells, and then Marion Bartoli in the fourth round. Kuznetsova has a good history at this tournament. She won it in 2006 and lost in the semifinals the last two years, both times to the eventual champion. Her solid serve and powerful strokes are perfect for the event.
Kuznetsova's game should be just enough to outdo Yanina Wickmayer in the quarterfinals. Wickmayer has an excellent draw, and her wiry athleticism will give Kuznetsova fits. But I'll stick with my opening premise - that the Miami conditions reward the most offensive-minded and clutch players - and take the woman with both weapons and experience.
*** First-round match to watch: Alicia Molik vs. Ashley Harkleroad. Harkleroad, who posed for Playboy two summers ago, left the tour in July 2008 and gave birth to a son in March 2009. The 24-year-old is entering the tournament with a protected ranking.
Semifinalist: Kuznetsova
Second Quarter
Venus Williams leads the way, and she's on a hot streak: She won titles in Dubai and Acapulco recently, and then added the title from the annual Billie Jean King Cup, an exhibition at Madison Square Garden, to her 2010 haul. But is this a real streak, or an aberration? Is Venus healthy and perhaps on her way to another Wimbledon title? Or will she lose her second-round match (and her hearing) against talented young screamer Michelle Larcher De Brito? One never knows with Williams. Of all the game's all-time great players - I'm talking King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Justine Henin, and, of course, Serena - Venus is the least predictable. She's also the least emotional in defeat. Pick her (which I'm doing now) or against her (which I have done many times before) at your own risk.
The other side of this section is open and ripe for a hard-serving, big-hitting charmer (hint, her name is Sabine Lisicki). This is especially true as Ana Ivanovic and Flavia Pennetta continue to struggle. Though Agnieszka Radwanka, a semifinalist in Indian Wells, is the conservative pick for the quarters, I'll go with Lisicki's bolder and bigger game (until the quarterfinals).
*** One to watch: Croatia's 5-foot-11 Ajla Tomljanovic, 16, has a bright future, and her second straight wild card (she lost in the first round in Indian Wells).
Semifinalist: V. Williams
Third Quarter
Jelena Jankovic returns from her triumph in Indian Wells to a tough section of the draw that includes Samantha Stosur, Kim Clijsters, and defending champion Victoria Azarenka. Don't expect J.J. to repeat here; she's prone to fatigue, and methinks she'll be ready for a rest by the fourth round, or quarterfinals at the latest. It's a great chance for Stosur to shore up her new Top 10 ranking (she reached the quarters last year and would do well to at least defend those points).
I don't see Stosur going a step further this year, though, because Clijsters has something to prove after falling flat at the Australian Open and in Indian Wells last week. Last year's U.S. Open was no fluke, but Clijsters has yet to show that she can be consistently good while playing a limited schedule. I believe she can.
*** Alphabet Soup: Carla Suarez Navarro and her 18 letters take on Anastasia Pivovarova and her 19 in the first round.
Semifinalist: Clijsters
Fourth Quarter
Elena Dementieva has (mostly) repaired her shaky serve; now she has to improve her luck. The veteran Russian likely will face Justine Henin in the second round, just as she did at the Australian Open. I don't foresee a Melbourne repeat in Miami, though, and expect Dementieva to reach the semifinals.
She'll have to work hard to get there, as she could face Henin, Dominika Cibulkova, Vera Zvonareva (or Alisa Kleybanova), and Caroline Wozniacki. A Clijsters-v-Dementieva semifinal would be a bruising, too-close-to-call match between two of the finest athletes on the tour.
*** Others to Watch: Americans will want to see Melanie Oudin escape the first round against a qualifier. Brits will have their eyes on wild card Heather Watson, who won last year's junior U.S. Open title.
Semifinalist: Dementieva
Semifinals:
Williams d. Kuznetsova
Clijsters d. Dementieva
Final: Williams d. Clijsters
Champion: Venus Williams
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Wozniacki, Jankovic ease into Indian Wells final
Caroline Wozniacki breezed into the final of the Indian Wells WTA tournament with a commanding 6-2 6-3 victory over her good friend Agnieszka Radwanska on Friday.
The Danish second seed pumped her right fist in celebration after sealing victory in one hour 38 minutes when her Polish opponent, seeded fifth, hit a forehand wide to be broken for a fifth time.
Wozniacki, who is projected to climb to a career-high second when the world rankings are released on Monday, trailed 15-40 on Radwanska's serve in the final game before winning the last four points.
"I played consistent and tried to be aggressive," Wozniacki told reporters after reaching her first WTA final of the year. "We know each other so well.
"Agnieszka is a great fighter and she doesn't give up. I knew I had to fight till the last point to win this match."
The 19-year-old Wozniacki will take on Jelena Jankovic in Sunday's final, the sixth-seeded Serb having cruised past Australian Samantha Stosur 6-2 6-4 earlier in the day.
"Jelena is a great player, a former world number one, and it's going to be a tough match," Wozniacki said."
Jankovic broke her opponent twice in each set to wrap up her win in one hour 28 minutes on a hot afternoon at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
Eighth-seeded Stosur had not dropped a set on her way to the last four but struggled for rhythm against her higher-ranked opponent, piling up 36 unforced errors and four double faults.
The match ended when the Australian mistimed a forehand service return which flew skywards and Jankovic celebrated reaching her first WTA final of the year.
"I'm feeling good, going to the finals," the smiling world number nine said. "I had some tough matches here and some good wins.
"Samantha has an unbelievable serve, one of the best in the women's game, and I was able to return a lot of her first serves. I was putting a lot of pressure on her second serve," Jankovic added.
"So I think that was the key, because I was able to break her quite a few times. And then it made everything easier for me."
Although bitterly disappointed by her performance against Jankovic, Stosur was happy with her overall display at Indian Wells and is expected to break into the top 10 for the first time when the rankings are issued on Monday.
"Try and look at the positives," the Australian said after losing to the Serb for a third successive time. "It was a great week, but today I definitely didn't play anywhere close to as well as I can.
"Really, I just got frustrated and wasn't able to pull it back. When you're a set down against a quality player, it's always tough to come back."
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Top seed Kuznetsova crashes out, Clijsters advances at Indian WellsINDIAN WELLS (California): Top seed Svetlana Kuznetsova was bundled out of the Indian Wells WTA tournament on Saturday, piling up unforced errors in a 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 loss to Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro in the second round.
Twice champion and former world number one Kim Clijsters of Belgium had a much easier time on a sunny afternoon in the California desert, cruising into the third round with a 6-2, 6-1 demolition of Czech Barbora Zahlavova Strycova.
French Open champion Kuznetsova, runner-up here in 2007 and 2008, delivered an erratic display and was broken three times in the final set to lose a match lasting one hour and 56 minutes.
The Russian world number three angrily slammed her racquet to the ground after losing the first point of the seventh game of the third set when trailing 1-5 and serving to stay in the match.
Kuznetsova, who was eliminated in the same round here last year, failed to win a point in that game and Suarez Navarro sealed victory when a backhand by the Russian sailed wide.
"I feel now very happy," the 42nd-ranked Spaniard said in a courtside interview after booking a place in the third round against Hungary's Agnes Szavay. "For me, this is one of the most important matches of my life. I played good and I am happy to be in the next round."
Kuznetsova, who has produced patchy form this season after winning her second Grand Slam title at last year's French Open, lost the opening set after being broken in the first and fifth games.
After trading service breaks with Suarez Navarro early in the second, the Russian appeared to regain control from the baseline with her crunching ground strokes and she levelled the match by breaking the Spaniard in the 10th game.
However, Kuznetsova struggled to maintain momentum and she ended a frustrating match with a total of 69 unforced errors compared to just 38 by Suarez Navarro.
"It's frustrating because I know I have the game," said Kuznetsova, who as the third seed reached the fourth round of the Australian Open in January before losing to compatriot Nadia Petrova.
"I do practise, play unbelievable and then I get to the match and I don't do much. I feel good and the ball doesn't go where I want it to go.
"So my thinking is I just need more matches," added the Russian who has advanced no further than the fourth round in her four WTA appearances this year.
Fourteenth seed Clijsters, who returned to competitive tennis in 2009 following a two-year retirement and won her second US Open title in just her third tournament back, made short work of Zahlavova Strycova in just under an hour.
In other matches, third seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus breezed past Austrian Sybille Bammer 6-1, 7-5 while 12th-seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva, last year's champion, beat American qualifier Sloane Stephens 6-4, 7-5.
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Venus Williams Reigns Supreme, Retains No. 1 Spot
Venus Williams held on to her top spot in the power rankings with a victory in Acapulco, while Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Alisa Kleybanova recorded their first ever WTA Tour titles in Monterrey and Kuala Lumpur, respectively.
Less than half of the women from my last series of rankings have claimed a place here, with many of the more established players opting to miss the trio of events over the past fortnight in favor of resting up for the big competitions in Indian Wells and Miami.
One thing is for sure though. With Venus yet again giving the BNP Paribas Open a miss, there will be a new name at the No. 1 spot by the time IW is through.
Svetlana Kuznetsova and Caroline Wozniacki will both fancy their chances, and both Victoria Azarenka and Elena Dementieva will enter the tournament full of confidence and form. Reigning champion Vera Zvonareva will her hands full if she wants to carry the trophy away for the second straight year, but there's no shortage of players looking to claim the $4.5 million payday.
Urszula Radwanska, Shahar Peer, Jill Craybas, and Na Li all upset the apple cart in California 12 months ago...who will it be in 2010?
1) Venus Williams (WTA ranking 5, Previous power ranking 1)
Venus won her second straight tournament on the red clay of Acapulco to maintain her spot at the top of the power rankings. In fact, the victory in Mexico gave her a back-to-back Dubai-Acapulco double, a pair of tournaments she also won in 2009.
Williams has only appeared in three competitions this year, but she is 14-1 and she proved she is still capable of winning on a surface other than the hard courts.
The top seed was pushed all the way though, needing three three-set victories in the quarterfinal, semifinal, and final.
Williams reeled off six straight games against Spanish qualifier Laura Pous Tio in the quarterfinals to fight back from 1-5 down to book her place in the final four. Williams wasn't in as much trouble against Edina Gallovits, but she still needed to regroup after dropping the second set 2-6. The American then claimed her 43rd Tour title against Polona Hercog—looking for her first—after powering through the final two sets 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 in a tick over two hours.
She will return to action in Miami in two weeks time after her customary absence at Indian Wells this week, but she will be no higher than third in the next power rankings list.
Should any of the other 15 women in this edition of the power rankings make it to the quarterfinals in California, Williams will drop even further down by the time she plays her next game. It's not too far fetched to think she could drop to fifth or sixth.
2) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (WTA ranking 25, Previous power ranking 12)
The No. 3 seed in Monterrey started March off on the right foot by claiming her maiden Tour title.
In a relatively weak field, Pavlyuchenkova was never seriously tested until the final. She won her first three matches without dropping more than three games in any one set, and with the exception of a mid-game blip against Anastasija Stevastova, the Russian cruised into the final against second seed Daniela Hantuchova.
But the rain delays meant that Pavlyuchenkova had to play both her semifinal and final on Sunday, whereas Huntuchova had all of sunday to relax, recover, and prepare. It didn't seem to daunt the teenager, who became the youngest player inside the top 40 to win a main event.
The Slovakian jumped out to an early 6-1 first set, but Pavlyuchenkova fought back with stunning tennis to take 12 of the next 13 games to win 1-6, 6-1, 6-0. It was her first ever WTA Tour title, and her first trophy since an ITF win in 2008. Fatigue? What fatigue?
She jumps three spots in the WTA rankings and, with the help of a quarterfinal run in Dubai, moves up to the No. 2 spot in these power rankings. There's every reason to think she will be inside the top 10 again after Indian Wells.
3) Elena Dementieva (WTA ranking 7, Previous power ranking 6)
After retiring injured in Dubai last month, Dementieva showed she was back to full health with a run to the final in Malaysia.
She did not drop a set until the final, and she made light work of fellow seeds Magdelena Rybarikova and Sybille Bammer in the quarterfinals and semifinals. In fact, Dementieva only lost 15 games in her opening four matches. Originally the No. 2 seed, Dementieva was given the top spot after Serena Williams' continued injury ruled her out of action.
Kuala Lumpur was a great chance for Dementieva to pick up her third title of the year, but she will still head into Indian Wells with a lot of confidence. She may have had difficulty putting away points against Kleybanova, but I would expect her to be a lot more clinical when the stakes are upped in California.
4) Victoria Azarenka (WTA ranking 6, Previous power ranking 3)
20-year-old Azarenka drops just one spot, despite not playing in any of the three events over the past fortnight. Her loss to Venus in the final at Dubai is the only thing holding her inside the top 10.
She is set to compete in Indian Wells and Miami before returning to Europe to play in the Andalucia Tennis Experience International event in Marbella, Spain. She made it to the semis in Indian Wells in 2009 and followed that up by beating Serena Williams in the final at Miami, so expect her to maintain her position near the top of the rankings over the next month or so as the clay court season gets into full swing.
5) Daniela Hantuchova (WTA ranking 22, Previous power ranking 27)
Hantuchova makes her first appearance in the power rankings for 2010 after making it to the final in Monterrey last week.
She took home $19,000 for her efforts, but she will be left wondering how her fourth Tour title slipped away after running out to a rapid-fire 6-1 first set.
Hantuchova had struggled early on against both Vania King and fellow Slovak Dominika Cibulkova, but she had grown in strength as the two matches wore on. After taking the opening set of the final, many expected her to wrap up the match without much of a second thought, especially considering she completed her semifinal on Saturday before the rain came.
She will be happy with her performance up until the second set of the final, and there's obviously more titles in her future.
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