John McEnroe called the Rafael Nadal-Roger Federer 2008 men's Wimbledon final the greatest tennis match ever, the type of occasion that can give a sport a boost in popularity.

However, given that neither player is American it is very unlikely to happen in the US. It is no coincidence that the 70s tennis boom in the US was at a time of many US stars - Arthur Ashe, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Billy Jean King, and Chris Evert.

Golf is more popular than ever in the US right now. But would it be if Tiger Woods were not from the US? At the very least, it is safe to say that golf would not be as popular right now in the US had Tiger not been born and raised there.

It won't have gone unnoticed but at the Olympics 90 per cent of the TV coverage (excluding the "Up Close and Personal" type bits) was concentrated on the US athletes. America likes excellence and winners.

They care a lot more about great US athletes than great non-US athletes. Not that there is anything wrong with that or that it is difficult to understand why, just that this fact appears to be quite prevalent in US sports.

Great rivalries always increase interest in any sport. But to have any big factor on a sport's popularity in the US at least one of the athletes has to be an American, and while Nadal and Federer may continue their great rivalry, it will have little impact on the popularity of tennis is the US.

The Williams sisters are a case in point. They're adored by the American fans and their rivalry is unique. Venus beat Serena to win Wimbledon and Serena just beat Venus in the US Open semi-finals and went on to win the title.

Although chess is not really a sport, the Bobby Fischer-Boris Spassky chess match and rivalry caused a chess boom in the US in the early 70s. However, after Fischer won and never defended his title, chess popularity in the US plummeted and has never fully recovered because Fischer was the last US world chess champion.

Hockey's popularity would have got more of a boost had Sydney Crosby been born and raised in the US. If Freddy Adu ever becomes the best soccer player in the world, is there any doubt that, despite its lack of scoring, soccer would get at least a small boost in popularity in the US? Or if the US men's soccer team were to win the World Cup?

American Football, baseball and basketball are the three most popular sports in the US and they are all still dominated mostly by US stars.

Boxing's lack of popularity right now is partly attributable to the lack of a current great US heavyweight - traditionally boxing's biggest star. Yes, America loves a winner - especially if he or she is an American.

A good argument can be made that Michael Phelps has been the most dominant athlete in the world over the last five years. After all wasn't the Stars and Stripes played eight times in his honour in Beijing?