End of an era: No US player in ATP top 10

No American player will be listed in the ATP Tour rankings top 10 next week for the first time since the system began 37 years ago, tour officials said Friday.

US second seed Andy Roddick lost 6-3, 6-3 to Frenchman Gilles Simon in the third round of the ATP Washington Classic, ensuring the ninth-ranked American will tumble from the top 10 next week.

An unbroken line of US legends began in September of 1973 with Stan Smith ranked fourth, Arthur Ashe ranked seventh and Jimmy Connors ranked 10th.

The banner for American men's tennis was carried high by Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Michael Chang and Jim Courier, among others, but for recent years has been held aloft mainly by Andy Roddick.

"The pressure to carry the banner has been there since I was 18 years old," said Roddick. "That's something I have dealt with for a long time."
Belgian Xavier Malisse sees no reason for panic from Americans with Roddick still among the elite and such young talent as Mardy Fish, Sam Querrey and John Isner rising through the rankings.

"I don't think the US is in any trouble," Malisse said. "It's just the wide variety of so many good players. (America is) such a big country. Somebody is going to come up. It's just maybe a couple of weeks or months.

"There are so many good US players - 37 years, that's a long time. It's working whatever everybody is doing. They will be fine."

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