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Americans no longer factors on clay

© Joel Hunt

This year's French Open was very instructive with regard to the form of four of the top American players. That is Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Jim Courier and Michael Chang. It's been demonstrated that Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi have lost their chances of winning this Grand Slam title. It has also shown that Chang and Courier are no longer capable of winning this event.

Sampras had his best result in 1996 when he made the semi-finals. However, his game remains unsuited to clay, and his early round losses in 1995, 1997 and 1998 have demonstrated this. Sampras is unaccustomed to having to fight to hold his serve, and appears to be impatient and inconsistent from the back of the court on clay.

Similarly Andre Agassi seems to become impatient when he has to work harder to put away his opponents on clay. It was telling when he remarked that it's frustrating that his opponents always seem to get back his winning shots on clay, after his five-set loss to Marit Safin this year. His chances of winning the French Open surely have been used up when he fell in the 1990 and 1991 finals.

Michael Chang and Jim Courier, both former French Open champions, no longer seem to have what it takes to win the title. Courier lost in four sets to relative unknown German Jens Knippschild in the 2nd round. Chang was overpowered by Spaniard Fransico Clavet in the 4th round. Neither of those players made it to the quarter-finals, revealing how out of depth the Americans are against some of the Europeans on clay at this moment.

This year's French Open final was fought out between two Europeans, Carlos Moya and Alex Corretja. It would be wise to look for this trend to continue, because it is clear that the top American players are no longer factors at Roland Garos.

Davis Cup

Davis Cup action has returned, and the US team has assured itself of a place in the semi-finals. Jim Courier and Andre Agassi saw the US home to a decisive 4-1 victory over Belgium. Both players have almost always made themselves available for selection on the team. It is very pleasing therefore that the US Captain Tom Gullikson has offered them first choice as to playing in the semi-finals. In the past the more highly ranked Pete Sampras and Michael Chang have been allowed to take over from the semi-finals on. This was bad for the morale and for the public image of the team. However on this occasion Gullikson is doing the right thing by Courier and Agassi in giving them the first option as to whether they play in the semi-final against Italy. It's a reward for their hard work in the earlier rounds, one which Sampras and Chang certainly did not earn.

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