A Theory

I have a theory on why American tennis struggles so much on an international scene, and I believe that it's related to maturity. If you compare an 18 year old American kid with one of these 18 year old international players, the difference between the two would be remarkable, not just in physical appearance, but also in mental/emotional maturity as well. American culture is geared toward microwaveable development, but often doesn't have the capacity to accommodate such rapid growth. Youth in America grow up expecting to have everything by the time they get out of college, everything in their lives is geared toward monetary goals. They can't wait to turn 16 so that they can drive or have their own car, or start working part time to earn money. They can't wait to turn 18 so that they can make their own decisions. They can't wait to turn 21 so they can enjoy being an adult, and that definition of being an adult more often times than not is being able to drink alcohol, or go to bars or clubs. They can't wait to finish college so that they can start working, and they believe that their education will lead them to big money. Adversely what is the rest of the world's youth concerned with? Public transportation in most other countries or major cities in the world is outstanding, so not many of the youth are concerned with owning a car or driving. The legal age in most other countries is 18, so you figure most are drinking by the time their 16, and by the time they're 18 or 19 they're already over binge drinking, whereas here that realization doesn't happen until kids are right in the middle of the college experience or at the tail end of it where their education means the most. When most kids in the U.K. finish high school they're looking forward to traveling, taking that "gap year" to experience the world, instead of rushing into university or rushing to work a 9-5 job. Is money important to them, of course it is, but American society is so materialistic, and its so engrained in our culture that it's going to be hard to break that mentality. I'm not advocating lowering the drinking age, or anything drastic, but I am pleading with everyone to look to experience life and not be so impatient. There is a misperception that making a ton of money right away is the key to happiness, but everything will happen exactly how you want it to if you just take the time to understand what's going on. Now relating all this back to tennis, what is the major criticism of American tennis? None of the players are patient enough to construct points correctly, and rely heavily on their big weapons or athleticism to win matches. Now American tennis is taking a step to develop players on clay so that they do become more patient and learn how to work the court and have more variety, because they believe that the speed of hard courts has attributed to this fast paced smash and win impatient game that has been pervading junior tennis. Patience is an attribute that mature individuals possess. Now let's look at a top player the USTA is developing Donald Young, I just watched him crumble in a match against Lleyton Hewitt in the Aussie Open 2nd round. Does D. Young have talent? Yes, he does, he's got speed, he's got real good groundies, solid volleys, but he doesn't have a huge game. He's been on the tour for almost 5 years now and hasn't really done too much, is it because his game isn't that big, like Isner's or Querrey's, or is it because he just can't handle the pressure he feels from the things outside of the court. The pressure from the USTA expecting him to do better, the expectations of all the sponsors that have stuck with him. How can he perform when he's not truly playing for himself. Some players take a while to mature on the tour, but it seems that it takes American players too long to mature. The generation that preceded this current one, had greatness in its class. Sampras, Agassi, Courier, and Chang, all grand slam champions in their teens or early 20's, and now this generation of American tennis players has only one grand slam champion, Andy Roddick, the rest of the world is dominating the game, the new crop of top ten players in the world are all almost all under 24, and have been doing it consistently for quite sometime now. Nadal, Federer, Del Potro, Djokovic, Monfils, and Murry, all have one thing in common, at age 18 or 19 they made their presence felt on the tour, and are still around, which American players have maintained besides Roddick? I had alluded to this in an earlier post, American tennis hasn't caught up because we got caught up in the Sampras/Agassi era and expected greatness to just happen with the next generation because they were created with the same mold, the same mindset, create players that had bigger better serves and groundstrokes. The game evolved though, the rest of the world caught up to American tennis, Federer happened, Nadal happened, and now Del Potro is happening. They all hit bigger, move better, play the big points better, and handle pressure like icemen. What I saw from D. Young today, was just that a kid that was too young to handle the pressure of taking out an Aussie favorite. He had opportunities, and he definitely has the game to make some moves, but not the maturity to handle the big stage. Maybe he should set his own expectations instead of the ones placed on him by others? Isn't that what great athletes do? Don't they set their own bars of excellence and forget about everyone else's?