It’s almost getting embarrassing at this point.
When Andy Roddick crashed out of the Australian Open over the weekend, he took the U.S. men’s contingent’s hopes for an elusive Grand Slam title with him.
Roddick is the last American man to win one of tennis’ majors — and that was way back in 2003, at the U.S. Open.
Since then, it’s been one failure after another. The trend was crystallized in Roddick’s loss at Melbourne, when he was absolutely trounced by Stanislas Wawrinka in the fourth round. The American surrendered 24 aces in a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 defeat.
“Obviously [this] wasn’t the showing that we wanted, you know, but I’m doing what I can,” Roddick told reporters.
American women have been far more successful than their male counterparts in recent years, but even they couldn’t make any hay in Australia.
Defending champion Serena Williams missed the tournament with a foot injury, and sister Venus quit her third-round match with a hurt hip muscle.
Roger Federer, meanwhile, is in his 27th straight Grand Slam quarterfinal.
