Australian Open 2012 Results: American Men Fail on Grand Slam Stage Once Again

The middle weekend of the season's first major hasn't even arrived and the men's draw is already devoid of any American players. It's another example of the sad state of affairs that currently encompasses American tennis, especially on the men's side.

John Isner was the only one to reach the third round before bowing out on Friday to Feliciano Lopez in five sets. The one-dimensional big man didn't have enough answers for the veteran Spaniard's crafty game.

He's far from alone.  

Mardy Fish, Andy Roddick, Sam Querrey, Michael Russell, Ryan Sweeting, Ryan Harrison, Jesse Levine, Donald Young, Denis Kudla and Alex Kuznetsov were all knocked out in the first two rounds. Former star James Blake didn't play in the event due to injury.

That's 11 players who started the Grand Slam journey on Monday morning, and not a single one of them made it to Saturday.

Meanwhile, players from nations such as Kazakhstan, Canada, Portgual and Japan are still alive in the draw. It's a troubling sign for a country that has developed so many great champions over the years.

The rest of the world is catching up, and apparently passing, the United States when it comes to tennis.

Even more concerning is the fact that Roddick, Fish and Blake will all be at least 30 years old by the end of summer. That means that their best seasons are behind them, even for Fish, who was a late bloomer, leaving a bleak future for American tennis.

Isner and Querrey were suppose to lead the next generation of young stars, but that's far from guaranteed at this point.

Isner relies far too heavily on his serve, which leads to a lot of extended matches that end up wearing him down in major tournaments. Querrery, who once got as high as No. 17 in the rankings, has seemingly lost his way, leading to a murky outlook for him as well.

Of all the other aforementioned names, Harrison has the best chance of developing into the next American star. But his first-round loss to Andy Murray illustrated how much more work he'll need to do before he's a threat to the sport's top players.

Sadly, Roddick's 2003 triumph at the US Open was the last Grand Slam title by an American man, and it doesn't look like drought will be coming to an end anytime soon. In fact, unless something drastically changes over the next couple years, the dark ages of tennis in the United States are quickly approaching, and it's not a pretty sight.