Will the Next U.S. Tennis Star Please Stand Up?

Serena Williams can’t carry the torch forever. Right now she is the only relevant name in U.S. tennis — men’s or women’s. And as impressive as her career has been, with 20 Grand Slam singles championships and a shot at a Grand Slam in 2015, at 33-years-old it is in the twilight. Soon she will fall from the rankings and head into retirement.

Who then will take the torch for U.S. tennis?

That’s a still unanswered question on the men’s side. The Bryan Brothers have been admirable as an elite doubles team — but singles moves the meter. The men’s singles draw has not included a U.S. quarterfinalist since Andy Roddick and John Isner both advanced that far at the 2011 U.S. Open — losing to Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray.

That drought will continue. Denis Kudla came close, advancing to the Round of 16 for the first time, but lost to No. 9 Martin Cilic — the same guy who knocked Isner out the round before.

Isner was supposed to be “the guy” after Roddick retired, but most knew he was a second-tier star behind the likes of Djokovic, Nadal, Murray, Roger Federer (even in his twilight years), Stan Wawrinka, David Ferrer and a host of others who are ranked higher than he. Isner’s highest ranking was No. 9 in 2012 and for the most part has been a Top 20, but never Top 10, guy.

Forget Grand Slam titles, he’s only been to one quarterfinal — the aforementioned 2011 U.S. Open — and only advanced to the fourth round three other times. If this is the man carrying the torch for the U.S. men, at age 30 that torch burnt out long ago.

So who is going to step up? Kudla is only 22 and just wrapped up his best Grand Slam run. Right now he’s an unknown and won't make a name for himself until he beats a big name. But unless he starts collecting trophies, not just upset wins, he won’t come anywhere near to the star Roddick was during his career.

Ever since Roddick retired in 2012, U.S. men’s tennis has been a black hole. Hopefully Williams holds on long enough to prevent the women’s side from suffering the same fate.

This Wimbledon gives me hope that there are at least some U.S. women in the pipeline ready to take on the challenge of representing the country once Williams retires — though to expect anything close to her success is insane. Heck, any player would settle for half the success she’s had.

Other than Williams, the U.S. has two other players in the women’s singles quarterfinals — Madison Keys and Coco Vandeweghe. Keys has been tabbed as a breakout star for some time now, and this year broke into the Top 20 at No. 16. She reached the semifinals at Australia this year having never advanced beyond the third round in any of her previous Grand Slam attempts.

But she also just turned 20 in February.

The better news for Keys is her half of the draw is completely open — with No. 2 Petra Kvitova and No. 3 Simona Halep upset in the third and first rounds and No. 5 Caroline Wozniacki being upset in the Round of 16. Her toughest challenge will come in the quarters against 2012 Wimbledon finalist Agnieszka Radwanska, but if she can win that she’ll have a golden opportunity to break through to her first final.

Keys, though, has not faced a seeded player yet in this tournament. Her projected third round opponent and fellow up and comer — No. 12 Eugenie Bouchard of Canada — was upset in the first round.

Vandeweghe, at 23, reached the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time at the 2015 Australian Open and just upset No. 9 Lucie Safarova in the Round of 16. Unlike Keys, she is stuck in a murderous draw. If she can upset Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals, and set up a probable showdown with Williams, she’ll certainly build momentum heading into the U.S. Open.

(Side note: The top half of the draw is brutal, Williams has to face former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka, who gave her a heck of a match at the French Open, in the quarters.)

The biggest news is that arguably the U.S.’s brightest future women’s star — Sloane Stephens — lost to Safarova in the third round. At 22, her best year was 2013 when she reached the fourth round of all four Grand Slams — including the Australian Open semifinals and the Wimbledon quarterfinals. But she has yet to breakthrough to a final.

If the U.S. women can place three or even just two in the semis, this Wimbledon will be a major success for American tennis. It will show that others are capable of stepping up and taking the torch after Williams retires — and if Stephens ever puts it together she has the makings of a multiple-slam winner. U.S. women’s tennis at least has some prospects.

But the men are still struggling to find the next superstar. Roddick carried the torch admirably for more than a decade despite only winning one slam. He constantly ran into Roger Federer, and certainly raised the profile of U.S. tennis every time he played — winning one slam in five finals appearances. All four of those losses came to Federer, three times at Wimbledon and once at the U.S. Open.

Anyone who calls Roddick a failure for not living up to Pete Sampras’ 14 titles, Andre Agassi’s eight or John McEnroe’s seven is a fool. He may not have won multiple slams, but Roddick remains the last U.S. men’s tennis player to win a Grand Slam singles title — 12 years ago at the 2003 U.S. Open.

Forget the next Sampras, Agassi or McEnroe, I’ll settle for the next Roddick. Here’s to hoping there’s someone out there who has what it takes.