Tennis

There is only one sport like tennis. One sport remaining like tennis. The American sports pallet has seemed to shift in recent decades away from sports like tennis, track and field, and golf, save the influx of popularity brought to golf by Tiger Woods. Without him, where would golf be in the last 20 years?

In my mind, tennis is the last truly great one-on-one sport. The only challenge where one man, or woman, stands across the court of competition to another man or woman, who in that short period of time challenges you, personally, to see if they're better. The "Golden Age" of tennis most likely lasted from the early 70s through the mid 80s. The decade of the 90s brought great American players like Sampras and Agassi, but not the popularity of the game to the average American sport fan.

This time of year is one of my favorites. Just two weeks after the turn of the year, the best tennis players in the world, both men and women, convene in Australia to decide the year's first Grand Slam event. Often tennis is relegated to the back burner of TV coverage, but for two solid weeks, hours of coverage on ESPN2 throughout the day, and into the late hours of night and morning, tennis is everywhere.

Tennis is unique. One-on-one.

How could it get any better than that?

It's also great because of its global appeal and influence. Tennis might now be a "niche" sport in America, but across the world, tennis is as big as it ever was. Maybe bigger. The global intrigue is what I've always loved about the game.

The red clay of Roland Garros in Paris. The close-cut grass of rainy Wimbledon. The raucous fanaticism of Australia. And the priceless and incomparable moments that come with night tennis in New York at the U.S. Open.

Players from all over the world, bringing notoriety and attention to their small countries who long to be seen as important. A Cypriot like Marcos Baghdatis. Perhaps the greatest player ever is from Switzerland. The tiny war-torn nation of Serbia has become the hot bed for young rising Tennis stars. Players like Djokovic, Jankovic, Ivanovic, and more. Russia. Australia. France. I honestly believe much of my love for foreign culture was encouraged by my interest in tennis.

Matches that last five sets, and five hours. One-on-one. Like the late night in '96 when Pete Sampras was pushed so hard, and so far by Alex Corretja, that he vomited multiple times on the court. This is tennis. Extreme competition, pushed by gladiators of extreme talent and fitness.

There's also another element that's always been in tennis. The celebrity appeal. The relationships. No other sport cares so much about who's dating who, who likes who, and who can't stand to be in the same locker room as someone else. For me, it adds to the mystique of tennis. What other sport cuts to the girlfriend or boyfriends of the athletes in between points more than tennis? What other sport is concerned about the beauty of its female players like tennis is, or what they're wearing in their next match? It's a part of the sport that if I was in charge of trying to bring tennis back into the mainstream of the American sport plate, I wouldn't stop talking about.

The bottom line for us disinterested Americans though... We need a star! An American star! An American male star in particular. As great as the Williams sisters have been and will continue to be, they haven't brought tennis back. When Sampras and Agassi retired, we've been looking for the next American hero to bring tennis back to Sportscenter.

It's not Roddick.
It's not Blake.

Can it be the young African-American and recently turned pro Donald Young? Perhaps.
I hope so. But we need someone. This sport is too great. Too unique to be cast aside by the American sports fan.

5 hours.
One-on-one.

The last of the great gladiatorial sports.

I love tennis.

Give it a chance.
Go to Delray in a few weeks.
Go to Key Biscayne in March.

You'll love it I promise.

I'll see you there.