For the past several years, tennis in the United States has been falling off the map. This summer marked the first time there were no Americans ranked inside the top 10 since 1973.

However, this year’s U.S. Open may be a sign that American tennis is on the rise.

Excluding the early exit from the number one ranked American, Andy Roddick, other Americans, both young and old, have been stepping up their games at the tournament.

The highlights for the Americans began early in the tournament with 18-year-old qualifier Ryan Harrison. A one-time Texas junior who grew up in New Braunfels, Harrison had to qualify for the Open before even getting sight of the main draw. After winning three matches to qualify, he knocked off the 17th-ranked player in the world, Ivan Ljubicic, in four sets.

Harrison instantly became the spotlight of the tournament for his second round match against Sergiy Stakhovsky. Fans were packed into the Grandstand court, some standing at least four rows deep beyond the stadium to get a view of, perhaps, the next rising American. However, Harrison lost after having three opportunities to close out the match.

Sam Querrey, a 22-year-old American tennis hopeful from Thousand Oaks, Calif., began a fantastic run to the Round of 16 after winning three main draw matches, but fell to Stanislas Wawrinka in the fifth set, missing out on the quarterfinals. Querrey, who is currently ranked 21st in the world, has already won four titles this year, a career high for him, after only winning one title in each of the last two years. He has secured his highest ranking in his career since turning pro in 2006.

John Isner, 25, also represented the U.S. well this year. Isner advanced to the third round before bowing out to Mikhail Youzhny in four sets.

The last American to make a splash at this year’s Open was Mardy Fish. After turning pro in 2000 and reaching a career-high world ranking of 17 in 2004, Fish was plagued by injuries, and eventually dropped out of the top 200.

Since then, Fish has recently made a comeback into the world spotlight. After dropping 30 pounds this summer, Fish had his best major tournament of 2010 at the U.S. Open, and also made it to the Round of 16 with Querrey. Fish’s luck soon disappeared when he lost to the world’s number three-ranked player, Novak Djokovic, in straight sets.

Although still not quite the force they once were, U.S. tennis players are beginning to prove that they might have a future in the top ranks again.