With Lindsay Davenport considering retirement and Venus and Serena Williams continuing to pursue interests other than tennis, the United States could be in danger of losing its status as a leader in women’s professional tennis. For the first time in decades, the U.S. could find itself without one woman ranked in the top twenty five. Compared to the days of Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Monica Seles, Jennifer Capriati, Davenport, and the Williams Sisters, the United States could be seeing Amy Frazier and Laura Granville holding the flag high at Tier III”s and ITF circuit events.
If you think I am grossly exaggerating, take a peak at these statistics. The United States has only twelve players in the top 100, but that does include Lindsay, Venus, and Serena. For the present, consider the remaining nine players who are Amy Frazier, Laura Granville, Jill Craybas, Lisa Raymond, Ashley Harkleroad, Meghann Shaughnessy, Jamea Jackson, Shenay Perry, and Mashona Washington. Only three of these women have made it to the quarterfinal round of a Grand Slam tournament. Five out of the nine are older than twenty-five years of age. Out of all of them, Lisa Raymond is the most experienced player, with 52 doubles titles. However, Raymond is clearly a doubles specialist. The highest she ever ranked in singles was No. 15.
As Davenport just announced that she is suffering from a new back injury, she could be out of the top ten pretty soon if she is forced to take 4-6 weeks off the tour. She has over 800 points to defend between now and the end of the French Open, and then she has to defend her ranking points from last year’s finalist trophy at Wimbledon. Venus Williams has been sitting at No. 10 on the chart for weeks, but she could be knocked out of the top ten as soon as the NASDAQ-100 Open ends. And Serena, well Serena needs to worry about getting back into the top fifty, or else she will be begging for wild cards, whenever she does decide to return to the Tour.
Thankfully, there are a lot of young junior players coming up through the ranks. The next generation of strong American tennis players could come from the likes of Vania King, Bethanie Mattek, and Alexa Glatch. Although they are young, and mostly playing at lower tier tournaments, they do show signs of great potential for the future.
Vania King just came on to the WTA tour last season, yet she has already reached the semifinal round at the Tier III Bangalore Open in India. She stormed through to the semifinals in straight sets before she was forced to retire against eventual champion Maria Santangelo with a stomach ailment. She received a wild card into this week’s Pacific Life Open and made it to the third round before losing to Na Li of China 6-2, 6-4.
Bethanie Mattek, although only twenty years of age, has been on the WTA Tour for six years. She recently hit a career high of No. 113 and it should only be a matter of time before she cracks the top 100. A dedicated Christian, Mattek has already scored wins over Jelena Jankovic and Elena Likhovtseva, both current top thirty players. She qualified for the Pacific Life Open, and made it to the third round before losing to No. 28 seed Sania Mirza in three close sets.
The 2005 U.S. Open junior runner-up, Alexa Glatch, has shown signs of great promise in her future on the WTA Tour. She is only sixteen years old, but has already had a strong start on the junior circuit. She was named the 2003 junior player of the year by Inside Tennis Magazine, and has already won four ITF Easter Bowl titles.
Despite the optimism for the future, the U.S. seriously is in bad shape when it comes to women’s tennis. There are only three Americans in the top fifty on the WTA rankings. Russia has eleven players, France has seven, the Czech Republic has five, and even Italy has four! True, Jennifer Capriati and Monica Seles have hinted about possible returns, but stories like Martina Hingis’ comeback are few and far between. It could take years before King, Mattek, Glatch, and the rest of the talented U.S. junior players are at the point where they can be considered title contenders at tournaments. The USTA has made great strides in its player development program, but again, it will take time before we start seeing the fruits of the effort. Until then, I hope that Laura Granville, Ashley Harkleroad, Jamea Jackson, and Shenay Perry develop their games further and advance up the rankings.
