James Blake and Andy Roddick face a tough task as they attempt to uphold a proud tradition

James Blake is confident he can do well at this year's US Open after winning the ATP event in New Haven

Andy Roddick feels butterflies in his stomach when he drives into New York 10 days before the start of the US Open. James Blake comes out in goosebumps every time he walks on to the court in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

It is a feeling common to most leading players at their home Grand Slam tournaments. Lleyton Hewitt usually buckles under the weight of expectation at the Australian Open, Amélie Mauresmo flops every year at Roland Garros and Tim Henman never won Wimbledon, despite reaching four semi-finals at the tournament dearest to his heart.

The pressures that Americans feel on home soil may be similar to those experienced by the local heroes in Melbourne, Paris and London, but the effect does not seem to have been as inhibiting. American men have won the US Open 19 times in the 39 tournaments since Arthur Ashe's victory at the start of the Open era in 1968; American women have won one more over the same period.

Serena and Venus Williams took American hopes in this year's women's tournament into their opening matches in the first evening session here last night. The sisters, who have both won the tournament twice, have grown accustomed to shouldering the burden of national expectations.

If it is a role that has become increasingly familiar for Roddick and Blake, the pressures are different. While the Williams sisters came to New York this year knowing they had nothing to prove, each having won a Grand Slam tournament in 2007 already, the two leading American men will be aware that the clock is ticking on their careers.

Roddick, who will be 25 on Thursday, won his only Grand Slam title here in 2003 and last topped the world rankings more than three and a half years ago; Blake, who will be 28 in December, claimed his 11th title with victory up the road in New Haven on Saturday night, but will begin his Flushing Meadows campaign knowing that he has never gone further than the quarter-finals in any Grand Slam tournament.

Nevertheless the hard-court season normally brings the best out of Blake, who enjoys the added thrill of playing in his home city. The son of an American father and British mother, he was brought up in nearby Yonkers and remembers his first visit to the US Open at the age of 10 with his father to watch a family friend attempting to qualify.

"For me the US Open is the biggest tournament of the year," Blake said. "I've always looked forward to this. I do get a different feeling when I come here. I still get goosebumps walking on to Arthur Ashe stadium because this is what I was a fan of.

"I am still a fan of this tournament. I have to pinch myself each time to know that I really am a player here, that I'm one of the guys that the kids are looking up to in the same way that I was looking up to all the players that were here.

"It shows me how far I've come to get to this point. It's really a thrill to play every time and to be a part of this whole event. The fans just add so much to that with their excitement showing through. To have New York this excited about tennis for two weeks out of the year is an unbelievable experience."

Blake said that playing in the night matches in Arthur Ashe Stadium was a particular thrill. "I love it. I really do look forward to it. As a kid, I remember seeing the matches at night, the marquee match-ups, and it was all very memorable, very exciting. So to play in them when the crowd's just going crazy, it gets late, they're still sticking around, coming down closer to the court, it's a really memorable experience."

He recalled with particular affection his quarter-final here two years ago, despite the fact that he was beaten by Andre Agassi in five sets. "Even though it's a loss, it was something that really was good for the sport. We had such a great battle until 1.30 in the morning. We fought our hearts out. He just played a little better, played like the champion he is to win that match.

"The fact that I'm still getting people talking about that match two years later, telling me how inspired they were, how much it got them excited about tennis, about the US Open, is something that shows that he really knew what he was talking about when he said right after the match that it was good for the sport."

Roddick, who has failed to reach the quarter-finals only once in the last six years, said he still felt the same excitement as he did when he made his first appearance at Flushing Meadows in 2000.

"There's no tennis event like this one, with the electricity and the buzz, the tennis at night," he said. "When I'm driving in and I'm 10 days out of the tournament still, you first get in the city and you still get those butterflies, you still get a little anxious."

Roddick particularly enjoys playing in the cavernous Arthur Ashe Stadium. "I like the stadium court.

"I feel like the ball bounces up. I've always felt pretty comfortable out there. I know the ins and outs, the little things, like the wind out there, the way the ball sounds. I remember the first time I walked out there. It just seemed so big. It's unlike any other court. So I think it's a bit of an advantage for me if I'm going against someone who hasn't played a lot out there."

This year the world No 5 should have few problems against his first opponent, Justin Gimelstob, but there are dangers ahead. The big-serving Ivo Karlovic could await in the third round, followed by Tomas Berdych in the fourth and Roger Federer in the quarter-finals.

Roddick refuses to think ahead to a possible meeting with the world No 1, who has won 13 of their 14 meetings. "It's more relevant for you guys to write about," Roddick told reporters here. "I have to get there before it becomes relevant to me."

Having gone through a dip in his career in the first part of 2006, the tide seemed to have turned for Roddick after his appointment of Jimmy Connors as his coach last summer. However, the optimism built by his run to last year's final here, when he took Federer to four sets, has not quite been sustained.

Federer again took his scalp at the Australian Open, sweeping the American aside with arguably the best tennis seen anywhere in the world this year. Igor Andreev beat him in the first round at Roland Garros and Richard Gasquet won their Wimbledon quarter-final.

Defeats this month to Novak Djokovic in Montreal and David Ferrer in Cincinnati were not the best confidence-boosters and Roddick admitted he had recently fallen into his old trap of playing too tentatively and allowing his opponent to dictate. He has been working hard with Connors on that aspect of his game and said he felt encouraged by the way his practice sessions here had gone.

Blake, the world No 6, is also in Federer's half of the draw but looks to have an easier run through to the latter stages. He is in good form, having beaten five top 50 players on his way to the title in New Haven, where he overcame his Florida neighbour, Mardy Fish, in the final.

"That's a great way to go into the US Open," Blake said. "I'm going into every match feeling that I can win."

The tournament will provide the American public with the chance to see some of the players who might carry their hopes in future years, but players of real potential look thin on the ground in both the men's and the women's game.

Behind Roddick and Blake the next highest-ranked Americans are Mardy Fish at No 40 and Sam Querrey at No 48. Querrey, a 19-year-old from San Francisco, is regarded as a good prospect – he beat Mikhail Youzhny in Cincinnati before losing to Blake in the quarter-finals – but the six other US players in the top 100 look no more than journeymen.

Blake has been impressed by John Isner, a former colleague champion who blasted five higher-ranked players into submission with his thunderbolt serve in Washington last month, but he is 22 already and is ranked as low as No 199. Donald Young, 18, has been labelled the country's next big hope for a year or two now, but his progress in the senior ranks has not been as swift as some would like.

After the Williams sisters there are no other American women in the world's top 40. Of the other seven in the top 100, only Vania King, an 18-year-old from California, looks to have serious room for improvement.

However, Jim Courier, who is now one of the country's leading TV commentators, does see one major source of local optimism. Asked to name another American woman capable of winning a Grand Slam tournament, he pointed to Lindsay Davenport, who at the age of 31 began her comeback after having a baby by playing doubles in New Haven last week. She plans to play her first singles tournament in Bali next month.

"Assuming she's fit again and prepared to really go for it, I think she could have a legitimate shot at another major," Courier said. "As long as she can get to the ball, she hits it so well that she can be a challenge for anybody. It's great that she wants to come back so soon after having her baby boy. I look forward to seeing how she does. I would imagine the Australian Open next year could be a big target for her."