Mornin'. This will be a brief one, because I have to hit the road for the weekend. But I'll be back with a Deuce Club this afternoon, and hopefully that will tide you over until Rafa and co. are ready to swing into action in London. It is Rafa Nadal and co. now, which feels a little strange to write after so many years of domination by Roger Federer.
Which also seemed strange to write not very long ago, when Pete Sampras was riding herd on the game, ever hounded by Boris Becker, back in those glory days in Hanover and Frankfurt. And surely you noticed that the US has exactly one representative at the YEC, Andy Roddick. You don't hear a lot of buzz about Roddick winning the whole thing, and that's a poignant and, for Americans, painful reminder of the state of the game in the U.S.
This ties in with something that might be of interest to all of you who are into the new, "social media." Next Tuesday, Nov. 23rd, Pat McEnroe and Nick Bollettieri, founder of the IMG Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy and coach/adviser to a string of top players too numerous to mention, will engage in a "Twitter chat" starting at 2 pm. They'll be discussing the state and future of American tennis. McEnroe, as most of you know, is the head of Player Development for the USTA.
If you have a question you'd like either Pat or Nick to answer, or debate, there's a "landing page" where you can drop it, via email. Both Pat and Nick are very into this discussion in cyber-space, especially because it promises to be a two-way avenue of communication with what you might call the tennis base (that would be you).
The discussion will be moderated, and I plan to take part in it, although I'll probably stand back and give you all a chance to get your questions answered directly. Curious to see how all this will work out, so I'll see you there next Tuesday.
-- Pete