For the first time since the rankings were invented in 1973, there are no Americans ranked in the Top 30 of the ATP. (Basically, Isner's slipped). That's concerning in and of itself, but what is worrying me is the effect that COVID has had on the ITF tour in the U.S. That is, starting last March and continuing, virtually all of the U.S. based ITF tourneys have been canceled. Because of health concerns, yes, but also because the sponsors have pulled out. These tourneys don't make (a lot of) money usually because not many people attend and jacking up ticket prices just tends to make even fewer people attend, but pre-COVID, there were a lot of U.S.-based ITF tourneys and now there aren't. Around the world, that hasn't been the case, which is why dedicated guys like Rybo have gone and parked themselves in Turkey or Croatia or Spain for weeks and played a bunch of tourneys. But for guys like, say, Reese Stalder or Nick Chappell or Gerardo Lopez Villasenor (or even Trevor Johnson), there just haven't been many (or nearly as many) venues to play at in the last 15 months. And it seems like it's continuing - looking at the upcoming schedule, there remain very few U.S. events.
We've discussed how the COVID ATP ranking system has hurt Cam Norrie (and it has), but the decline in U.S.-based ITF tourneys has hurt U.S.-based players perhaps even more. The ATP tours (both Challenger and the main tour) have been able to continue more or less unabated although they have drastically cut payouts (especially in doubles) due to the dearth of fans. But the lower levels have been hurt worse, in my view and may be hindering or even preventing the "normal" and expected development of U.S. players.
Hopefully, as the pandemic situation improves, especially in the U.S., this will resolve itself over time. We'll see.