Hi, there.

Usually, I do not get depressed or annoyed by the statements or facts presented by any opponent...

I read this article twice: it is just pity that it is absolutely correct: there are no American Stars like Pete or Andre, or Williams sisters... I do not undermind McEnroe brothers or many others...

The question is how that affects the quality of Roger Federer or any other tennis player's performance. Why should we be indifferent just because of absence of American players at the top game? Why do we just cross out our Andy and James form the list just because they can not overplay Federer? I have another question before I answer to my own question. How many Gershwins, Bethhovens, Mozarts, Rakhmaninovs, Pushkins...are there? Should we lose love for music just because only our fame Gershwin is an American and his rank is at the different scale? Should we stop being passionate about Tennis because our Andy, who happened to be a great sportsman, can not overplay Roger? Andy lost to Blake twice last season. Before that, James could not win over Andy. IS IT ABOUT US, AMERICANS OR THERE IS A CONCERN THAT MANY TALENTED KIDS COULD NOT AFFORD TO BE A PART OF THIS MACHINE WHICH BREEDS POTENTIAL FAMES?

I do not mean to get personal and suppress anybody's opinion but if there is real passion for the sake of the game, and love coming naturaly, then it does not matter so much who wins the slam. It is about TENNIS. I know enough about many tennis players including Pete, Andre.....Andy, James...Roger, Rafael....All these guys are leaving their everyday life around TENNIS. Self-discipline. dedication... yes, but the TALENT to do it is the MUST ingredient there. I think that USTA is doing a good job popularizing the GAME but not unless another Lendl, Pete, Navratilova is given the right surrounding and talent, we will see another American shine as Roger Federe is doing. Roger is not playing his game, he is planning, analyzing, adjusting himself mentally for every single match...But the most important aspect is his love for the Game. Yes. Today Roger will shine for a long time. By the way, poor Rafael Nadal claimed a couple of victories over Federer but it will not happen again... Roger Federer knows exactly how to overplay Rafa too.

Take it easy, and keep loving the TENNIS, the game of mind and body.

So Long

My fellow Americans !
We have the right to be chauvinists, to be biased and tribal.
We have the right to be open minded and admire the geniouses or closed to the talented just because we, Americans, do not have one of our own.
Meanwhile we embrace Sharapova , the screaming cow, gready for bucks, just because we , at the end of the day, have no criteria.
As for me I will go on loving tennis and the real talent whoever is the player.
I will be a MOZART eternal lover simply because he wrote and played the most divine music of all time. Not because he was or was not an American.
By the way : It was the reputed Navratilova the one who compared the genious of Federer to the genious of Mozart. She knows better.

I agree with Rita 100% that the love of the game is more important than nationalistic preferences. Also players like Bjorn Borg, Becker, Edberg, Federer etc with the mix of the American greats have helped to raise the level and awareness of the game for the players and the viewers.
Globalization has an impact on sports too. There are players and viewers from all around the world participating and watching in real time. Which leads to more competition and higher standards which is better for the sport.
A genius or a prodigy, from which ever nation is a genius and a delight to watch and admire, as such folks are rare examples. If there were no Bjorn Borg, John Mcenroe would be not as popular as he is today.
I am sure there are kids today in America watching Federer and aspiring to be like him and one day they could realize their dreams.
Appreciation of talent is mutual, if the rest of the world feels that their talent is not going to be appreciated in America why should they appreciate American talent, this will lead to the sport being totally unpopular everywhere. An object of beauty should be and will be appreciated by allhumans no matter where it comes from and the same is true for sports.
Having said that, Americans in the mix of winning do contribute to the popularity of the sport in America. I am fairly positive talent will emerge in America for tennis and many other sports.
I love tennis and have been watching it since my childhood appreciating Borg, Mcenroe, Becker, Edberg, Sampras, Agaasi, Federer etc.
America has a rich history and legacy in tennis, but ignoring or not caring about players from other nations will not help the cause of making it popular here. The upcoming Amrican players have to be abreast with the current standard of the game and its evolution to be competetive and eventual champions.

Tennis has always been an international sport. If people can only appreciate the sport if American players are doing well, that is a shame. It seems to me that then they never were tennis fans, but were just fans of "USA! USA!" It is too bad that such chauvinism precludes their enjoyment of any players who do not happen to have a US passport.

When I was four or five, my baby sitter used to gush about Bjorn Borg. One of my favorite memories in a lifetime of being a tennis fans is watching the 17 year old Boris Becker win Wimbledon. Some of may favorites throughout the years have included Noah, Edberg, Wilander and Kuertan. Some of my favorite current players include Federer, Nadal and Safin. I have liked a number of tennis players from the United States as well- but since I was first watching tennis in kindergarden, I have always understood that it is an international sport. It seems that people in the US used to be able to appreciate that as well, and I hope they will be able to again.

Granted, it would be great if there were more American players in the mix- but don't dismiss the sport of not worthy of any attention just because some folks at the top of the game may not come from your country. I am a tennis lover first and foremost, and my love of the sport and appreciation of the players is not dictated by the country of origin of the players.

No offense, but why should we take someone's opinion who doesn't even follow the sport? I am a fan, and yeah I'd love it if there were some more American players. However, one of the things that I love about tennis is that it is so global.

Regarding Andy Roddick's comments to the media during the Open. He was just responding the all the scathing articles written about him earlier in the year when he went through a slump. It's hard not to feel personally attacked when your game is criticized and you're called a has-been at the ripe old age of 23.

If you did bother to watch any of Federer's matches then you'd see what an unbelieveably great player he is. I think it is unfair to criticize Andy Roddick and other players. You can't predict the future and anything can happen in sports. No one should be written off until the end. Then you'll just get more "journalists" who will have to eat their words when they are proved wrong.

Also, Maria Sharapova played Venus Williams in the 2005 Wimbledon semi-final, not final as you stated.

WOW! That's a lot of responses in a short amount of time, I posted about 11 hrs ago and already have five. I think that the responses help support the underlying idea of the article. Which is basically: what the HELL is wrong with us!?! People seemed to imply that I don't know how good Federer is. I know how good he is! I have the same respect for him I have for Tiger Woods. His ability to win every big match is unmatched and I respect him a lot for that. However, I still believe that if he was an American he would get twice the publicity.

LASTLY, I'M VERY SORRY THAT I CONFUSED THE SHARAPOVA-VENUS 2005 WIMBLEDON MATCH AS THE FINAL; I'M PRETTY SURE I WATCHED A LOT OF THE DAVENPORT-VENUS FINAL AND SHOULD HAVE DOUBLE CHECKED THAT. THANK YOU FOR BRINGING MY ATTENTION TO IT. I'LL CORRECT THE ERROR.

How can you say Roddick does not possess the "championship attitude needed to win the big matches" when he's won the US Open? And he's got buckets of charisma. If you guys in the US don't appreciate him, then he'd be welcomed with open arms in England any day of the week.

He won the US Open four years ago and hasn't won a Grand Slam since. Considering he's been ranked in the top five pretty much the whole time, I strongly stand by my statement that he doesn't possess the championship attitude.

well maybe Jimmy Connors has found the much maligned mojo. Federer is awesome on a tennis court, no one can argue with that, but everyone likes a good intense battle for the Slams, and I think there's a now a hope of getting that.
The trouble with tennis is that its always been about rivalries. Its a sport that *thrives* on rivalries. Always has, always will. Having American superstars providing these is essential, it seems, to its popularity in the US. In the UK, Wimbledon has always been a bit of a popularity contest, where talent, skill and personal quirks win the affections of the masses. Post- Henman, it has to really. I have vivid memeories of Goran Ivanesevic winning the trophy to rapturous appalause on a barmy People's Monday. It made frontline headlines in the national papers.

Federer doesn't have crowd appeal to the US fans? Please tell that to the crowds in Flushing, who treated him like a rock star throughout the tournament. For most American tennis fans that I've talked to, he is IT. He's the one they follow, he's the one they strive to be like.

But would you like to know the real reason why the general public isn't interested in tennis? Why these international players don't appeal to the masses here? An almost total lack of coverage. Watch almost any tennis tournament broadcast...it's divided into several categories: the Slam winners, the Americans, the almost-Americans, and everyone else. International players are rarely shown until they start winning, when they start becoming a major force in the field. Coverage instead focuses on perpetual losers strictly because they're from the US. If a little more airtime was devoted to international players, we could possibly see an increase in interest. It's a simple fact...it's hard to root for someone when you have no idea who they are.

Kate, I think u hit the nail on the head. Tennis really isn't covered past the really big name players. Excellent point.

You Americans got what you wanted. When V&S were dominating you all said it was bad for the game and they were ruining the sports. They were working their asses off playing and winning and you all hated it. YOu would probably more prefer to see Maria at the top than V&S and they are Americans. I have not once heard a commentator say that Fed is bad for the sports because he's winning everything.....but they sure did make it a point to bitch and complain when V&S were winning everything. You ask for it you got it America. My wish is that they will never, never have an American in the top 5 ever again. Then again, they probably would love that as long as it is not V&S.

Boris Becker still remains the best tennis player in the universe,despite the heroics of Pete Sampras of yester years and currently Roger Federer

I for one am happy not to see any Americans polluting the top of the sport because they don't deserve to be there.

Sampras the monkey and Serena the Rhino played an ugly game. I'd rather be watching Federer play any day.

I couldn't care less about baseball, football or golf. Don't watch the World Series nor do I watch the Superbowl. Most of the world doesn't either. Who cares?

Basketball is your most interesting sport, but there's no red,white and blue glory there either. Must be humbling losing to a team like Greece in the World championships...

Stop ranting loser. We don't care if you follow Tennis, same as we don't care about American sports in general.

Get used to being 2nd (or 3rd, 4th and 5th) place in all the international sports that matter :

Soccer
Grand Prix racing
Tennis
Hockey
Basketball
even Baseball

HA HA HA! I can't possibly take the opinion seriously of someone who lists Grand Prix Racing as a "sport" that Americans should care about.

Who cares what Americans care about? If Grand Prix had an American winning all the time you guys would be more interested in it.

All right then, so take it out and add it to the category of events? Does that make you feel any better?

Fact is, Grand Prix is 10 x more popular the world over than football or baseball. As is soccer, tennis, basketball etc.

Point is your beloved sports suck and no one but you follows them. So if you're not watching tennis b/c there are no Americans who look like monkeys or Rhinos playing... well, let's just say we won't miss you waiving that ugly flag around.

Keep being ethno-centric while everyone else laughs at you.