It's been five years since an American won a Grand Slam tournament in tennis and, to be quite honest, the current crop are not really going to change that.

Although the US are the current Davis Cup holders, when it comes to a sport where it is the individuals and not the team that grabs all of the attention, the American public simply do not care too much for the Davis Cup.

Yes, the USA have two men in the top 10, but because of the dominance of a certain two male players, they might as well be light years away. Harking back to the days of John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors just ain't good enough any more.

Pete Sampras and his legendary status as one of the greatest - if not THE greatest - seems like a long, long time ago. America's supposed next rising tennis star, Sam Querrey, was knocked out in the first round by Juan Carlos Ferrero at Wimbledon, while Andy Roddick and James Blake were simply pawns in a game involving the other lot. There wasn't even the slimmest of chances for yankee glory this year.

So what's happened to the American male tennis player? Between 1992 and 2000, Americans won 21 of the 36 Grand Slams on offer thanks to Jim Courier, Andre Agassi and Sampras. Before that, of course, were Connors and McEnroe. Roddick won the US Open in 2003 but since then... nothing.

It's not good enough for the US and they don't like it one bit. The Brits are used to it but not in America. The unfortunate aspect for American male tennis is that the public over there have very little patience and if they do not have someone at the very top of a major sport then they simply lose interest. Harsh but true.

Players like Sam Querrey and Mardy Fish are competent and good players but they will never be any better than top-20 guys. Roddick has been past his best for some time now and Blake just ain't good enough or consistent enough.

They seem to be suffering from a lack of motivation. Inside Tennis Magazine was quoted as saying about Querrey: ''Yeah, he's got that great serve, but he can't follow it up because he can't volley a lick. He's also lazy, unmotivated and he admits it.''

With your most promising youngster being looked upon like that by America's tennis press and admitting himself that he has no motivation, the future is not looking good. Perhaps it's a bit of an over-reaction because, to be honest, when two players like Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer are around there really is not much of a chance to win anything.

So are the Americans really that bad, or are the others just too good? It's a mixture of both, really. The main problem for America is that tennis is still viewed by the youth as a "country club" sport. Baseball, American football and many others are just far to easily accessed by youngsters over there and training facilities and coaching is far spread.

It's something that has been going on in Britain for decades but only now that America is not producing Slam-winning tennis players does the subject really get broached. Therein lies the other problem, the system in America has largely been ignored because men's tennis has always been a success over the pond.

Perhaps this sudden realisation will sting everyone over there into action. Knowing America, it will mean unnearthing talent after talent and making sure that this famine does not go on any longer than it already has.