great US juniors that never made it

[rod99]

i've always been curious why some of the great US juniors from the 1970s - 1990s never made a dent on the pro tour. specifically guys like:

scott davis
al parker
ivan baron
will bull

was it injury (i know parker hurt his back in college), burnout, lack of a pro style game, all of the above, etc? for anyone who watched these guys play, i'd love to know their thoughts.

[Doug_Hartley_2012]

Well, I'm glad that Americans are puzzling over the same issue as Australians, given that we have produced a raft of teenage champions who never made it as adults. Injuries were a part of the problem but we're still trying to figure it out. My suspicions....lack of competitive fire; kids' physiques playing kids' games, unsuited to adult competition; other ambitions eg back in the 1950s we had the Fraser brothers. Neale stuck with tennis but his brother John became a doctor. He was still a superb tennis player but had other priorities. There is a very long list of juniors who gave the sport away.