1992: great year for USA men's tennis

[VGP]

I'm just posting this now that there really has come an end to the greatest generation of men's tennis players in the USA.....take care AA.

Final ATP 1992 Singles Ranking

1 Courier, Jim (USA)
2 Edberg, Stefan (SWE)
3 Sampras, Pete (USA)
4 Ivanisevic, Goran (CRO)
5 Becker, Boris (GER)
6 Chang, Michael (USA)
7 Korda, Petr (TCH)
8 Lendl, Ivan (USA)
9 Agassi, Andre (USA)
10 Krajicek, Richard (NED)
11 Forget, Guy (FRA)
12 Ferreira, Wayne (RSA)
13 Washington, MaliVai (USA)
14 Costa, Carlos (ESP)
15 Stich, Michael (GER)
16 Bruguera, Sergi (ESP)
17 Volkov, Alexander (CIS)
18 Muster, Thomas (AUT)
19 Holm, Henrik (SWE)
20 McEnroe, John (USA)
21 Sanchez, Emilio (ESP)
22 Clavet, Francisco (ESP)
23 Novacek, Karel (TCH)
24 Medvedev, Andreï (CIS)
25 Mansdorf, Amos (ISR)
26 Gilbert, Brad (USA)
27 Boetsch, Arnaud (FRA)
28 Krickstein, Aaron (USA)
29 Steeb, Carl-Uwe (GER)
30 Chesnokov, Andrei (CIS)
31 Mancini, Alberto (ARG)
32 Cherkasov, Andrei (CIS)
33 Pioline, Cédric (FRA)
34 Larsson, Magnus (SWE)
35 Rosset, Marc (SUI)
36 Hlasek, Jakob (SUI)
37 Arrese, Jordi (ESP)
38 Masur, Wally (AUS)
39 Haarhuis, Paul (NED)
40 Woodforde, Mark (AUS)
41 Sanchez, Javier (ESP)
42 Camporese, Omar (ITA)
43 Santoro, Fabrice (FRA)
44 Wheaton, David (USA)
45 Tarango, Jeff (USA)
46 Davin, Franco (ARG)
47 Gustafsson, Magnus (SWE)
48 Oncins, Jaime (BRA)
49 Yzaga, Jaime (PER)
50 Perez-Roldan, Guillermo (ARG)
51 Karbacher, Bernd (GER)
52 Mattar, Luiz (BRA)
53 Furlan, Renzo (ITA)
54 Woodbridge, Todd (AUS)
55 Grabb, Jim (USA)
56 Markus, Gabriel (ARG)
57 Siemerink, Jan (NED)
58 Bergström, Christian (SWE)
59 Herrera, Luis (MEX)
60 Filippini, Marcelo (URU)
61 Leconte, Henri (FRA)
62 Pescosolido, Stefano (ITA)
63 Enqvist, Thomas (SWE)
64 Matsuoka, Shuzo (JPN)
65 Carbonell, Tomas (ESP)
66 Prpic, Goran (CRO)
67 Ondruska, Marcos (RSA)
68 Pozzi, Gianluca (ITA)
69 Carlsen, Kenneth (DEN)
70 Gilbert, Rodolphe (FRA)
71 Stolle, Sandon (AUS)
72 Roig, Francisco (ESP)
73 Steven, Brett (NZL)
74 Wuyts, Bart (BEL)
75 Rostagno, Derrick (USA)
76 Delaitre, Olivier (FRA)
77 Naewie, Markus (GER)
78 Eltingh, Jacco (NED)
79 Kulti, Nicklas (SWE)
80 Olhovskiy, Andrei (CIS)
81 Svensson, Jonas (SWE)
82 Schaller, Gilbert (AUT)
83 Fromberg, Richard (AUS)
84 Connors, Jimmy (USA)
85 Stark, Jonathan (USA)
86 Corretja, Alex (ESP)
87 Martin, Todd (USA)
88 Nargiso, Diego (ITA)
89 Kühnen, Patrik (GER)
90 Damm, Martin (TCH)
91 Skoff, Horst (AUT)
92 Morgan, Jamie (AUS)
93 Raoux, Guillaume (FRA)
94 Youl, Simon (AUS)
95 Reneberg, Richey (USA)
96 Azar, Roberto (ARG)
97 Mezzadri, Claudio (SUI)
98 Champion, Thierry (FRA)
99 Lavalle, Leonardo (MEX)
100 Shelton, Bryan (USA)

Half of the Top 10, nine in the Top 30, eighteen in the Top 100
By the end of their careers, 50 GS singles titles. 42 GS singles finalists....


End of last year:

4 Blake, James (USA)
6 Roddick, Andy (USA)
47 Fish, Mardy (USA)
51 Ginepri, Robby (USA)
70 Goldstein, Paul (USA)
73 Spadea, Vincent (USA)
86 Gimelstob, Justin (USA)
87 Kendrick, Robert (USA)
93 Delic, Amer (USA)
100 Kim, Kevin (USA)

So far, 1 GS singles title, 3 GS singles finals (Roddick).

[armand]

Lendl, USA?? I had no idea! Musta been that awful Cold War thingy...

[slice bh compliment]

A parallel....

Yeah, and in 1992, the USA's dream team dominated men's hoops in Barcelona. This year? Never mind.

Nice list, BW. That was a good era in tennis. Some stylish players in there like Jakob Hlasek and Diego Nargiso....Henri Leconte and Sasha Volkov.

[VGP]

Yeah, Lendl's numbers do pad things a bit. He became a naturalized citizen then.

I also wanted to add that the USA vs. Switzerland Davis Cup final (Courier and Agassi in singles, McEnroe/Sampras in doubles, vs. Hlasek and Rosset) was a big highlight at the end of '92.

(although Federer got revenge over the USA in the 1st round of the world group in 2001)

[superman1]

Roddick has done well so far. He has the game to win more Slams, but maybe not the brains. It's up to Connors to continue teaching him how to work the net.

Blake has the game, but it's a risky one, and even at his best he can't beat Federer. So I don't see him winning a Slam, but a Slam final may be in the cards.

[laurie]

Looks like Fabrice Santoro is the only player from that top 100 who is still playing today.

[oscar_2424]

side note.... jaime Yzaga---- 49----Peru:)

[VGP]

side note.... jaime Yzaga---- 49----Peru:)

Loved his game. I really enjoyed when he beat Sampras at the '94 USO.

[oberyn]

Also, only a loss by Sampras to Edberg in the U.S. Open Final prevented a U.S. sweep of the majors that year.

[Max G.]

Looks like Fabrice Santoro is the only player from that top 100 who is still playing today.

Oh! Interesting note, I didn't realize Fabrice has been around for that much longer than the rest of his generation.

[FiveO]

If you think 1992 is impressive, in terms of rankings, check out 1979 when the USA occupied:

7 of the top 10
11 of the top 20
25 of the top 50
39 of the top 100

* not including Lendl and Kriek who both became American citizens.

[lethalfang]

Roddick has done well so far. He has the game to win more Slams, but maybe not the brains. It's up to Connors to continue teaching him how to work the net.

Blake has the game, but it's a risky one, and even at his best he can't beat Federer. So I don't see him winning a Slam, but a Slam final may be in the cards.

IMO, Roddick's problem is not his brains. Roddick's problem is Federer. Roddick has gone to Wimbledon Final in '04 and '05, and US Open Final in '06, and has met Federer each time and lost.
It's like the problem all the NBA teams have faced in the 90's: Michael Jordan and Scott Pippen were playing.

[VGP]

If you think 1992 is impressive, in terms of rankings, check out 1979 when the USA occupied:

7 of the top 10
11 of the top 20
25 of the top 50
39 of the top 100

* not including Lendl and Kriek who both became American citizens.

Thanks FiveO.....that helps explain the men's half of the tennis boom in the USA.

1979:

1 Borg, Björn (SWE)
2 Connors, Jimmy (USA)
3 McEnroe, John (USA)
4 Gerulaitis, Vitas (USA)
5 Tanner, Roscoe (USA)
6 Vilas, Guillermo (ARG)
7 Ashe, Arthur (USA)
8 Solomon, Harold (USA)
9 Higueras, José (ESP)
10 Dibbs, Eddie (USA)
11 Pecci, Victor (PAR)
12 Mayer, Gene (USA)
13 Fleming, Peter (USA)
14 Gildemeister, Hans (CHI)
15 Fibak, Wojtek (POL)
16 Clerc, José-Luis (ARG)
17 Gottfried, Brian (USA)
18 DuPre, Pat (USA)
19 Orantes, Manuel (ESP)
20 Lendl, Ivan (TCH)
21 Smith, Stan (USA)
22 Alexander, John (AUS)
23 Amaya, Victor (USA)
24 Pinner, Ulrich (GER)
25 Noah, Yannick (FRA)
26 Gullikson, Tim (USA)
27 Teltscher, Eliot (USA)
28 Smid, Tomas (TCH)
29 Panatta, Adriano (ITA)
30 Sadri, John (USA)
31 Ocleppo, Gianni (ITA)
32 Mottram, Buster (GBR)
33 Barazzutti, Corrado (ITA)
34 Amritraj, Vijay (IND)
35 Kriek, Johan (RSA)
36 Lutz, Bob (USA)
37 Riessen, Marty (USA)
38 Moor, Terry (USA)
39 Walts, Butch (USA)
40 Pfister, Hank (USA)
41 Ramirez, Raul (MEX)
42 Rennert, Peter (USA)
43 Scanlon, Bill (USA)
44 Van Patten, Vincent (USA)
45 Taroczy, Balazs (HUN)
46 Dent, Phil (AUS)
47 Mayer, Sandy (USA)
48 McNamara, Peter (AUS)
49 Pattison, Andrew (ZIM)
50 Nastase, Ilie (ROM)
51 Warwick, Kim (AUS)
52 Gunthardt, Heinz (SUI)
53 Gorman, Tom (USA)
54 Gehring, Rolf (GER)
55 Stockton, Dick (USA)
56 Okker, Tom (NED)
57 Mitton, Bernie (RSA)
58 Dibley, Colin (AUS)
59 Feigl, Peter (AUT)
60 Kirmayr, Carlos (BRA)
61 Teacher, Brian (USA)
62 Masters, Geoff (AUS)
63 Frawley, Rod (AUS)
64 Gomez, Andres (ECU)
65 McNamee, Paul (AUS)
66 Dominguez, Patrice (FRA)
67 Owens, Charlie (USA)
68 Lewis, Chris (NZL)
69 Martin, Billy (USA)
70 Taygan, Ferdi (USA)
71 Bedel, Dominique (FRA)
72 Edmondson, Mark (AUS)
73 Wilkison, Tim (USA)
74 Van Dillen, Erik (USA)
75 Caujolle, Jean-François (FRA)
76 Saviano, Nick (USA)
77 Velasco, Jairo (COL)
78 Kachel, Chris (AUS)
79 Haillet, Jean-Louis (FRA)
80 Cox, Mark (GBR)
81 Gonzalez, Francisco (PUR)
82 Slozil, Pavel (TCH)
83 Manson, Bruce (USA)
83 Case, Ross (AUS)
85 Buehning, Fritz (USA)
86 Pierola, Alejandro (CHI)
87 Birner, Stanislav (TCH)
88 Koch, Thomaz (BRA)
89 Drewett, Brad (AUS)
90 Luna, Fernando (ESP)
91 James, John (AUS)
92 Kodes, Jan (TCH)
93 Waltke, Trey (USA)
93 Gattiker, Carlos (ARG)
95 Hrebec, Jiri (TCH)
96 Delaney, Chris (USA)
96 Kary, Hans (AUT)
96 Proisy, Patrick (FRA)
99 Grant, Michael (USA)
99 Moore, Ray (RSA)

[Verbal_Kint]

Martin Damm is also still active.. #9 in doubles.

[eunjam]

gotta love the current World Poker Tour announcer, VVP, being in top 50 that year.