Ivan Lendl defends American tennis despite the Grand Slam drought since the days of Agassi and Sampras
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Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Ivan Lendl
Men’s tennis was dominated by American stars Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi in the last decade of the 20th century. Before them, Jimmy Connor, Ivan Lendl, and John McEnroe frequently brought Grand Slams trophies to the US. But with the change of century came the slump in American tennis.
Czech–American tennis icon Ivan Lendl spoke about the lack of Grand Slam titles in men’s tennis in recent American history. He jokingly said that Sampras and Agassi have spoiled American tennis fans by clinching 22 Grand Slam titles together during the 1990s and the early 2000s.
“Everybody got spoiled by Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi, and so on,” Lendl told Craig Shapiro’s tennis podcast. “They think it’s coming, I mean you look at John McEnroe with seven, Jimmy Connors with eight, Andre with eight, Pete with 14, and then all of a sudden, you have nothing for ten years,” he further added.
Lendl believes winning majors can’t be the sole determinant of performance. “Well, don’t think the other guys can’t play, they’re a lot better than you think,” he explained.
For context, the last male American to win a Grand Slam was former world No.1 Andy Roddick at the US Open in 2003. After that, there has been a long drought of 19 years, and no one knows when an American will lift a Grand Slam trophy again.
Ivan Lendl on the American players after Sampras and Agassi
The 9-time singles major champion Ivan Lendl believes that the players after Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi have done well despite not winning majors. “Well, I think the guys are doing pretty good, actually, I think the USTA has done an okay job,” Lendl said. Lendl admitted that winning a major is not really easy.
“It’s difficult to criticize because winning Majors, especially in men’s tennis, is a lot harder than people think,” Landl explained. After a long domination in the men’s Tour, American players have been overshadowed by the Big 3. With Nadal and Djokovic still active, Americans may have to wait for some more years.
That being said there are some American stars on the Tour having the potential two win singles major. Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe, currently ranked 9 and 19 respectively, are the most prominent ones. These players can end the American Slams drought earlier than we think.
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