Someone asked, given America’s poor showing at the French Open, is the US facing a tennis breakdown?

It’s a question that caught me because in the last decade only one American man has won the title, and that was Andre Agassi in a five-set thriller against Andrei Medvedev back in 1999. Before him, you go back to the start of the ’90s with Jim Courier’s win over Agassi in 1991 and Petr Korda in 1992, and before him Michael Chang when he defeated the legendary Stefan Edberg in five-sets in 1989. And that’s your lot since the French became an open championship back in 1968.

The women have fared even worse, with just two winners in the last 20 years – Jennifer Capriati taking the final set 12-10 in a marathon against Kim Clijsters in 2001, while it was an all-Williams affair the following year as Serena defeated older sister Venus in straight sets.

Americans in the modern era have never done well on the slow red clay of Roland Garros, and you wouldn’t expect them to, growing up on the hard courts favoured in much of North America, while the South Americans and southern European nations produce more winners on clay, as it’s the surface they prefer and grow up with.

This year’s French Open should have come as no surprise to see no American quarter-finalists in either the men’s or women’s draw.

Is America facing a breakdown? More players from eastern Europe and Asia are breaking into the top 100, which means the average American players are not dominating the rankings in the way they have in the past.

But it wouldn’t matter if half of the top 100 were American players in terms of success at the French Open. Very few would make it to the final and have a real chance of winning against a clay court specialist. Chris Evert dominated the French Open in the ‘70s and ‘80s, winning an amazing seven titles, with a game suited to clay.

There are now only a handful of Americans at the top of the men’s and women’s game, with Andy Roddick and James Blake currently in the top 10 ATP rankings, while the Williams’ sisters are in the top 10 WTA rankings, and they are all capable of winning Grand Slams, but very unlikely on clay.

As with everything in life there are trends that change from year to year, or every so often, and tennis is no different. The days of the Americans dominating in a sport like tennis where you’re on the move every other week and living out of a suitcase on your global travels isn’t exactly appealing for aspiring sportsmen where there are more favourable alternatives, particularly for men, available back home.

For the eastern Europeans who have grown up in poor countries with very few opportunities to succeed elsewhere, tennis has given them an opportunity to be someone and earn financial security for themselves and their families for life, and it’s a trend I don’t think will change any time soon.