2010 has been a memorable year for tennis. We saw everything - we saw Nadal win three Grand Slams in a year, something which hasn't been repeated since 1978. We saw new, young talents such as Alejandre Falla and Czeck Tomas Berdych challenge the authority of greats like Federer and Nadal.

And another thing we saw was the demoting of American favourite Andy Roddick to a lowly number 11 in the world. This, is the first time ever that there is no American in the world top 10 ATP rankings.

Is this the downfall of American Tennis? America has always been a country associated with the sport since it was founded. American is a separate style of playing the sport. American style tennis is associated with serve-and-volley, and most Americans are serve and volley players.

America has been a powerhouse of tennis. In the old days, every second or third great player was from America. Americans who redefined the sport were -

Jimmy Connors was a true legend of the sport and hailed from St. Louis, Illinois. He was a former world number 1 and has a number of records to his name. He is one of the only five players to have won Grand Slam titles on hard, clay and grass courts. He is the first male player to rank No. 1 for more than 200 weeks in total. He holds the record for the most number of titles by any male player, a total of 102. He was the winner of 8 Grand Slam singles and 2 doubles titles. He has played 401 tournaments, a record at that time.

Andre Agassi, a former tennis player, was one of the best in the game. One of my top 3 favourites, he is known as the best service returner in the history of the game. He is the only known player to win a Career Super Slam - winning the four Grand Slams, the gold medal in Olympics, the Davis Cup and the ATP World Tour.

Arthur Ashe from Richmond, Virginia, is known as one of the best American players of the game. He won three Grand Slams during his career. In 1985 Ashe was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. The main stadium at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows Park, where the US Open is played, is named Arthur Ashe Stadium in his honor.

How can we forget Pete Sampras? Arguably the best tennis player to ever pick up a racket, he won 14 Grand Slam singles, a record at the time of his retirement. He is the only player to win 8 consecutive Grand Slam finals and has the highest number of Wimbledon singles titles, that is 7.

I could go on and on ....

So many records in the world are held by Americans, and they have produced so many of great tennis legends. But is American tennis now losing its splendour?



Andy Roddick was the 2003 US Open champion, but never won a single title after that, and he has fallen to number 11 from number 1. Even in this year's US Open, he was eliminated in the first round itself, even though he was the home favourite. And the nearest after him is number 16 Mardy Fish.

So are we seeing a fall of America in a sport they used to conquer at some time? And are modern American players really losing their influence?