Andy Roddick, 19, is ranked No. 9. (Ernest Coleman photo) | ZOOM |

        MASON - As the new keepers of the American tennis flame, they will need plenty of lighter fluid. Andy Roddick, James Blake, Taylor Dent, Jeff Morrison and a host of hopefuls have the misfortune of following the greatest generation of U.S.male players ever.

        Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Jim Courier and Michael Chang combined to win 25 Grand Slam titles and claim the year-end No.1 ranking from 1992 to '99. Their successors are improving, and have fared well here - Roddick and Dent are in the round of 16; Blake lost to Juan Carlos Ferrero late Wednesday. But there will be a big void to fill when the old guard is gone.

        “Back in the day, it was mostly us (the United States),” former top-10 player Brad Gilbert said. “Now we are a secondary player. We've still got some guys, but in the States we want guys winning (Grand) Slams.”

        In 1986, there were 33 U.S. men in the year-end top 100. Now there are eight. The latest pall cast on U.S. tennis is because of Wimbledon: There were no Americans among the final 16, the worst showing in 80 years.

        Patience, please. The new kids are climbing.

        Roddick, 19, has raised his ranking 150 spots in 19 months to become the first American teen-ager to inhabit the top 10 (No. 9) in 11 years. Blake, 22, has climbed 180 spots to 30th.

        Dent, 21, has won 12 of his last 15 matches and jumped 50 spots since January to rank 67th. Morrison and Alex Kim, both 23, are starting to carve out careers after winning NCAA singles titles.

        “Two years ago, everybody was saying, "Do we have any U.S. players in the future?' and I was saying the same names,” said Jan-Michael Gambill, a 25-year-old American ranked No. 48. “Now, all of a sudden, they're doing well.”

        A look at some of the prospects:

        Roddick, who beat Nicolas Kiefer 6-4, 6-3 Wednesday, will play Wayne Ferreira today. Roddick leads the ATP Tour this year with 46 match victories. He is 7-0 in Davis Cup play, the best start for an American since Agassi went 7-0 in 1988-89.

        “I've been winning matches and playing well on a pretty consistent basis,” Roddick said.

        In July 2001, Blake had won only two matches in two years on tour. But he reached the round of 16 here last year and took off. He is 5-0 in Davis Cup play.

        “I don't set ranking goals,” Blake said. “I feel like I'm getting better right now, and that's enough.”

        Dent, who needed a wild card to make the field here, beat Marcelo Rios 6-2, 6-3 Wednesday and will play Ferrero winner today. He won his first ATP Tour title last month in Newport, R.I., so he and his father, Phil, are the first father-son duo to each win a tour event.

        “I believe I have the potential to win Grand Slams,” Dent said.

        Morrison, ranked No.101, won the 1999 NCAA crown at Florida. He has won two Challenger (minor-league) events and was the last American standing at Wimbledon. He lost in the first round here to Fernando Vicente.

        Robby Ginepri, 19, has risen from No. 207 to 108 in seven months. He lost to top-seeded Lleyton Hewitt in the first round.

        Mardy Fish, 20, is ranked 126th. Kim, ranked 112th, won the NCAAs at Stanford in 2000. And one to watch: Alex Bogomolov, 19, beat world No .3 Tommy Haas two weeks ago in Los Angeles for his first match victory on tour.

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