USTA GM of Player Development Patrick McEnroe "will leave his job," as his efforts have "borne the brunt of the criticism as Americans have steadily lost their place in the upper echelon of professional tennis," according to Pilon & Lehren of the N.Y. TIMES. Sources said that USTA execs had "planned to remove McEnroe" after the ongoing U.S. Open to "avoid distractions during the tournament." But after inquiries this week, the USTA "moved up the announcement and said McEnroe was stepping down." USTA execs said that McEnroe would "stay in place and help with the transition to find a successor, and that they had discussed his departure for months." The player development arm of the USTA is "at a crossroads," as the governing body this year announced plans to create a $60M "New Home for Tennis” outside Orlando. McEnroe has been based in N.Y., and said that the change in location "was part of the decision to leave his current role, even though the player development program was based in Boca Raton, during his tenure." The number of top-ranked men "has ebbed" during McEnroe’s tenure, as John Isner is the only American currently ranked in the top 50. However, the "story is different" on the women's side, as the number of American women in the top 100 "has steadily increased" (N.Y. TIMES, 9/4). McEnroe said, "Both myself and my boss at the USTA felt very strongly ... that the best situation is for the head of player development to be based in Orlando. We're going to be a lot more inclusive. We're going to be welcoming more players, more coaches moving forward, and the reality is that we both felt that that wasn't going to happen for me, that I wasn't going to make that move." He added, "I think we've made some major strides, despite the fact that we are struggling a little bit at the top of the men's side. I think we have a lot of positives, a lot of great people that are really doing the leg work" ("U.S. Open," ESPN2, 9/3).
RESULTS HAD NO IMPACT ON MOVE: The AP's Howard Fendrich noted McEnroe's departure "comes during a tournament in which zero American men reached the round of 16 for the second year in a row" -- something that, until '13, had "never happened at an event that began in 1881." USTA Exec Dir & COO Gordon Smith said that the change "was not prompted by recent results at the elite level, particularly on the men's side" (AP, 9/3). In S.F., Bruce Jenkins wrote the "essence of American tennis essentially boils down" to Williams. By the middle Sunday of the tournament, she was the "last remaining American player in singles, men or women." This "hardly represented some sort of aberration, or an unrealistic reflection of U.S. prospects." That is "exactly how it is." Jenkins: "The current group of men is utterly hopeless in terms of winning a major title, and I would reluctantly make that claim on the women's side, as well." It is "all about Europe now, with significant contributions from Canada, China and Australia" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 9/3). Meanwhile, Isner said that he "had a difficult time connecting the recent string of futility by U.S. male players to McEnroe." Isner: "His personal involvement in my game, or Sam Querrey's game, was minimal to zero -- and I'm fine with that. The guys playing on the pro tour -- he had no hand in that, really" (ESPN.com, 9/3).
A CHANGE IS GONNA COME: ESPN.com's Melissa Isaacson noted parents of top current and former U.S. junior tennis players said yesterday that they were "relieved to hear of the shakeup at the USTA" with McEnroe's departure. Sheila Townsend, the mother of 18-year-old player Taylor Townsend, said, "It's overdue. Nothing against (McEnroe) personally, I just think if this were a for-profit company and it had a CEO who hadn't produced any kind of positive results for this amount of time, the shareholders ourselves would have let that person go long before this." Gayal Black, the mother of Tornado Black, added, "I'm very, very happy, not because (McEnroe's out) but because a big change is coming. We need to clean house. New coaches, new everybody." Isaacson noted Black "pulled her daughter out of the program because they weren't satisfied with being unable to select their own USTA coach to work one on one with her." She said, "They don't pay coaches enough, and good ones can coach privately and make more than from the USTA. There are a lot of young American players out there and they're finding them. They're just not doing anything with them and most people can't afford to do it themselves" (ESPN.com, 9/3).
