French Fried

One or two losses are expected, the underdogs losing is no surprise, three or four losses is a trend, but all eight men losing in the first round of a major tennis tournament is a disaster. Two of the eight were Top 10 seeds, who rarely lose in the first round of Grand Slams and typically have an easy draw.

Some other sad numbers, it is the first time in the modern Open era no Americans reached Round Two, and only one of the losses even reached the fifth set, so they all lost convincingly.

US tennis has not bounced back from the decline and retirements of Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras. Andy Roddick, who everyone touted as the next great for about five years now, seems more concerned with popularity and exhibits questionable practice habits, preventing him from assuming the throne.

Clay is not the yanks best surface, but without a relevant player to challenge the dominant Federer, or many important tournaments outside the US Open, tennis is at risk of experiencing a similar fall in popularity as hockey.

One suggestion,get some practice before Wimbledon.