New York—There are four Americans in the Top 20 rankings: Venus and Serena Williams, Andy Roddick and James Blake. The last time the U.S. Open crowd cheered on one of its own to win the singles championship with in 2003 as Andy Roddick scored his first Grand Slam title. Serena Williams, in 2002, was the last American woman to win.

The most successful American players these days, according to rankings and results, remains the No. 1-ranked doubles team of Bob and Mike Bryan.

All these players are active and remain serious competitors, yet the youngest is 26 (Roddick). While this country has enjoyed longevity among top players—most notably Pete Sampras (retired at 32), Andre Agassi (retired at 36) and Lindsay Davenport (31)—the age of 30 is often the exit for a pro tennis career.

As today's top players inch toward the horizon of 30 and their hungry competitors emerge from countries that are quickly producing champions, the U.S. Tennis Association has announced a new strategy to create and support a pathway for champions.

"It's a new world," said USTA CEO Arlen Kantarian said in a press announcement on April 2. "We recognize the reality and we're committed to change. So today marks the beginning of a completely new direction for the USTA."

Now, the USTA has made such announcements before in its quest to keep up with the efforts of France, Spain and other dominating nations. Yet this plan, seems to have less ego and more smarts than previous attempts.

First, the USTA has renamed its High Performance division to Elite Player Development; increased its 2009 budget 50 percent over the original 2008 budget (which has gotten a boost with the restructuring); and created a position of General Manager that is accountable directly to Kantarian; he's the one who put the U.S. Open on steroids, turning the tournament into the glitzy two-week tennis festival and massive money machine that it is now, not to mention his organizing and branding of the U.S. Open Series and securing major boosts in television coverage.

The search to find the right person to fill the role of General Manager was very specific: The individual had to be a leader with experience in different areas of tennis who had the respect, credibility and support of top players, coaches and industry leaders, and who exhibited a spirit of inclusiveness to rally past champions, coaches and academies around Elite Player Development. Yet, this 'nice guy' inclusiveness had to be tempered with a sense of decisiveness.

A worldwide search that produced 30 candidates eventually landed close to home—actually, in the USTA's own backyard: Patrick McEnroe, captain of the U.S. Davis Cup team.

The choice is no surprise.

McEnroe has been in and around all parts of the game his whole life. It's almost as though he's been groomed for this moment.

"I feel like I've been through a lot of different scenarios in the tennis world from being a top junior, from being the 'brother of', from being a college player, from being a pretty decent pro, being on television, (and) being on the board of the USTA before I became the Davis Cup captain," McEnroe said in a telephone interview. "I've been around a lot of great players. I've lived with some. I've coached them on the bench. Tennis has been obviously a huge part of my life and has given me tremendous opportunities and tremendous joy in my life. I feel like—yes—all my experiences have groomed me for this."

The USTA leadership has said that past attempts to improve the scouting, training and development of players to champions have been well-intentioned, but that this plan is different. Besides the substantial increase in funding, which was not disclosed, two panels will be assembled to provide an integrated approach to efforts. They are a Champions Advisory Board and a Coaches Commission, both of which will involve the country's great pro tennis leaders in current efforts to build top players.

Such an wholistic approach is vital, Kantarian explained, because the landscape of the sports business has evolved quite a bit over the last few decades.

"We live in a new hypercompetitive sports world, which has made it a much more challenging environment for American champions, and it's one that's not just affecting tennis but certainly all sports," Kantarian said. "Since the Open era, close to a hundred more nations are now competing in the Olympic Games, 150 more foreign‑born players are on Major League Baseball rosters this spring, over 75 international players are now playing in the NBA, and in golf we've seen a 20% decrease in the number of American players in the top hundred.

"In tennis we're seeing the emergence of players from all over the globe—countries that include Serbia, Croatia, Cyprus, China, India—in a sport that now is even more global than ever before. Of course, we're feeling the impact. Last year's Open was the second time in 20 years that an American was not in the singles final of the US Open. Of course, on the other hand, you could look at that and say Americans have reached the finals of the US Open in 18 of the last 20 years. I think both of those statements say something about American tennis."

Now it's up to best and brightest in tennis—from retired champions to leading coaches that have become celebrities themselves—to come together in a nationalistic bid to keep American competitive and, potentially, on top of the rankings.

The lead charge for the project sounds most inspired:

"This is something that I'm really passionate about and I feel like I can make a difference. I feel like I can make a difference with what the USTA is doing and make a lot more positive things happen by really getting out there and working with people that are respected and that have done a lot in the tennis world," said McEnroe. "That's what I intend to do."