Flushing Meadows, NY—Six Spanish men reached the fourth round of the U.S. Open, marking the most players by a foreign country at this point in the draw since 1969, when Australia equaled the U.S. contingent. Behind Spain, lie Switzerland, France and the United States, each with two players.

Spain has enjoyed consistent presence in the Top 20 for years, and the country is revered for its approach to developing junior players: They train in groups, play on red clay, and compete in far fewer events than American youngsters.

The result, according to top coach Jose Higueras, is "they move great. They're moving (in) every direction—laterally, diagonally, forward, back...They play great percentages. The unforced errors normally are going to be less, generally, than the rest of the players. The third (great thing) is that their shot tolerance is pretty high with a good quality shot.

"Those are the things that, I believe, make them so successful."

Higueras trained in Barcelona as a boy and went on to represent Spain in the Davis Cup and to win 16 pro tournaments. His coaching career includes helping Michael Chang to his French Open title and Jim Courier to seven majors. He's worked with Pete Sampras, Roger Federer, Carlos Moya, Jennifer Capriati and Robby Ginepri.

He knows the secrets that developed "The Spanish Armada" that dominated the fourth round—top-seeded Rafael Nadal, No. 8 seed Fernando Verdasco, No. 10 seed David Ferrer, No. 21 seed Albert Montanes, No. 23 seed Feliciano Lopez, and Tommy Robredo. 

And so does USTA Player Development.

"If you can get the base of your game built with a lot of clay-court work, we feel that will translate into just being a better player—period—not just being a better clay-courter," Patrick McEnroe said today in a USTA Player Development press conference.

This month is the two-year anniversary of Higueras joining the McEnroe-led effort to develop the next American tennis champions. Only 20th seed Sam Querrey and third-seeded Venus Williams have a chance at the Open title; today 19th seed Mardy Fish was knocked out by Novak Djokovic of Serbia. The Spanish coach has helped develop parameters on technique, movement and shot tolerance, which he describes as the ability to hit equally effective shots from various heights or positions.

United, we stand

There's great work to be done, and McEnroe's approach to developing pros turned the USTA's previous one on its head. Instead of an exclusive program—cultivating an elite national team of a dozen or so players, dedicating lots of training to them and sending checks to support lesser players' travel expenses—today's approach is inclusive. Nationalistic, actually.

McEnroe has led the creation of a network of people and places to attract, identify and develop talent to feed the pro tour. Three national USTA Training Centers and 12 certified regional training centers across eight states are backed by local clubs, schools and programs. He said plans call for training centers in every USTA Section.

The "people" part involves more than 20 staff national coaches, plus cooperative relationships with private academies, clubs and coaches who directly develop talent. The latter is a shift in culture.

"It's a work-in-progress, but we've made a lot of progress," McEnroe said in a USTA Player Development press conference today. "We don't want people to think, 'Hey, the USTA is going to steal my player.' That's obviously an issue, and the coaches that work with these players obviously have a huge influence on them. Hopefully we can get their trust and they'll trust us. We'll trust them. We'll all try to do it because we want to help American tennis."

Like many up-and-coming pros Ryan Harrison, the 18-year-old qualifier who lost a close five-setter to No. 36 Sergiy Stakhovsky of Croatia in the second round, has been coached by his father.

"His father has done a great job," McEnroe said. "He moved down to the Bollettieri Academy. They're working with him. When he goes on the road, he's on the road with a USTA coach. That's a great example of us all working together and trying to do what's best for that player."

In the USTA Player Development stable also includes Querrey, Fish, John Isner, Jack Sock, Melanie Oudin, Sloane Stephens, and Christina McHale, among others. Their support spans from full training, school and board at national training centers to playing on the USTA Summer Collegiate Team for two months and, in Sock's case, serving as a practice partner for the Davis Cup team.

The USTA's program to get Americans in the Top 10 is grounded in transparency and collaboration. It's going to take time, McEnroe warned, but it's moving in the right direction. His plan is to displace the dominance by Spain and other nations.

Amigo for America

Higueras, a citizen of Spain who married an American tennis player and has two grown children, suffers no treason.

"I love tennis. I love this country," Higueras said. "I don't think I could love this country any more because of a piece of paper."

Spain's secrets to developing current top talent may be the United States' secret weapon for future talent.