There’s only one tournament left on the docket for American male tennis pro Mardy Fish before he calls it a career:  the final Grand Slam of the year, the U. S. Open.

It’s a fitting venue for Fish to step away from the game. After all, two of his peers and compatriots, Andy Roddick and James Blake, decided their “home major” would be their last tournament, too, in 2012 and 2013, respectively. When Fish plays his last match in New York, it will bring to a close the period of that “Big 3” in American tennis.

To say the aforementioned three players had some big shoes to fill in their careers would be an understatement. Roddick, Blake, and Fish — along with some of their less-heralded peers, such as Robby Ginepri and Taylor Dent — were coming up through the junior rankings and starting their times as pros while the accomplishments of Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, and Michael Chang were still at the forefront of the American tennis fans’ minds. Bearing the title of “the next great American hope” creates a sense of pressure that can cause the strongest player to buckle.

However, Roddick, Blake, and Fish handled that burden quite admirably. Roddick, the last American male to win a Grand Slam (2003 U. S. Open), made four other major finals and spent a decent stretch at the top of the rankings. Blake, a former college No. 1, overcame injury and personal loss to make his way to the world’s top four, win 10 singles titles, and team up with Roddick and Bob and Mike Bryan to lead the U. S. to the 2007 Davis Cup.

And then there’s Fish.

In 2003, Fish experienced a breakthrough year when he made the finals of the Cincinnati event and won his first singles title. A year later, he was a Silver Medalist at the Olympics. Over the next few years, though, Fish failed to maintain that level of consistency, primarily due to injury. Things took a significant turn for the better after Wimbledon 2010. A fitter Fish started racking up titles and big wins, and by the next year he found himself in the top 10 for the first time in his career.

But just when he was poised to challenge for more rankings points and titles, health issues struck again:  these more significant than any he faced in the past. A heart condition and subsequent anxiety about getting back on the court slowed any attempts to resume his career. And now, after a series of starts and stops, Fish will soon be calling it a day, joining Roddick and Blake — and perhaps wondering what could’ve been.

The Grand Slam-winning achievements of Sampras, Courier, Chang, and Agassi are nearly impossible for any country to match. At the end of the day, though, the accomplishments of Roddick, Blake, and the soon-to-be-retired Fish are ones to be applauded. Multiple titles, international success, and top-10 rankings while trying to reach half the heights of the Hall of Famers before them are quite impressive.

The next group of Americans — spearheaded by John Isner, currently the most consistent U. S. male— would do well to strive to follow in the footsteps of the “Big 3” before them.