Last week, when asked about youth tennis and the U.S. men’s game, Federer had this to say: “I feel most important is the work ethic and making sure that the kids you are training with understand that it’s not just the coach’s job to motivate them or that if you win a junior tournament you’re actually great. You’re far away from it. You have to keep working hard. … [Y]ou can’t have the parents and the coaches make you feel good all the time. You have to make sacrifices. I left home at 14 years old, stopped school at 16 and went on tour. I had a hard time understanding what hard work was, but eventually I figured it out, thankfully, early enough. If the kids don’t understand and don’t want to put in the hard work — I’m not talking about just hanging around the courts and playing for four hours a day; it’s about working well and quality — they will never get anywhere. It’s just very simple.” It is no secret that the state of the U.S. men’s game is not what it used to be, or what it should be. The retirement of Andy Roddick and James Blake has left a gapping hole that no existing American male has been able to fill. There’s a noticeable lack of American men in the top tier of tennis, with only John Isner making any significant inroads. Maybe it is due to the lack of commitment or dedication or maybe it’s due to the fact that currently the men’s game is being dominated by the likes of Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic. Whatever the case maybe, I hope to see more fight, more determination; maybe someone should call up John McEnroe to do a bit of yelling and put some fire in their bellies?
Posted on: Sun, 30 Mar 2014 22:01:45 +0000
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