SI.com's Jon Wertheim When was the last time we were a week into a Major and the men's draw was less denuded than the women's? Click here for full story.

Right to the questions/rants this week....

Jakob Kans of Ann Arbor, Mich. asks: "Did ESPN get the memo that the Internet was invented years ago and viewers have access to live scoring?"... Tom Pullman of Miami inquires: "How is it that ESPN thinks it's smart to show Andre Agassi beating some qualifier while my live scoring tells me the Taylor Dent/Juan-Ignacio Chela match is at five-all in the fifth set? Ridiculous." ... Esha of Michigan wants to know: "Is there any way we can convince Roger Federer, Marat Safin, Juan Carols Ferrero, Mark Philippoussis, etc., to take up U.S. citizenship? If so, maybe ESPN will then show more matches involving those guys as opposed to the often dull contests that feature Americans." ... Robert Sciranko of Orlando inquires: "Why is it that ESPN and the other television networks have this opinion that we don't want to watch anyone but Americans play?"... Adrian Ewins of Saskatoon writes: "I know it's getting to be an old refrain, but here's more fodder for the 'Why don't the networks get it?' debate. I eagerly tuned in to opening day of Australian Open coverage on ESPN. Judging by the five-minute introductory piece, there are four contenders -- Andy Roddick and Agassi on the men's side and Linsday Davenport and Venus Williams on the women's. And what a coincidence -- they're all Americans!"

...Opines Greg Pietrykiewicz of Edmonton: "Being a first-generation Canadian with an unpronounceable (except in Poland) last name, my pet peeve has always been the mispronunciation of European names. Why can't American announcers learn that 'a' and 'i' have specific pronunciations in 90 percent of the languages in the world? The ESPN2 coverage of the Australian Open makes me want to puke. The host says one thing and the two announcers each say something else. 'Marat Safin' was pronounced five different ways (that I counted) in a half hour of coverage."

After about the 100th correspondence -- no joke -- griping about ESPN's Australian Open coverage, I stopped counting. But without question this was the hot button issue in Mailbagville. I'm in complete agreement with you guys: If you're enough of a tennis fan to tune into matches that often don't begin until midnight ET, it's unlikely you'd want to watch another Agassi/Roddick/Venus mauling at the expense of seeing better matches featuring -- get this -- non-Americans. And airing matches on tape-delay is so '80s. Don't we have the Classic Sports Network for that? One more point: ESPN's commitment to tennis is admirable and appreciated. But it would be nice if the schedulers thought long-term. It sure would be nice if the network devoted some coverage to players who will be on the tour five and 10 years hence, even if their matches don't stack up in the ratings. Think of it as an investment.

Anyway, I encourage you to redirect all that passion to:

ESPN
c/o Tennis Division
ESPN Plaza
Bristol, CT 06010

Hey Jon, how about doing a top-five "never-in-a-million-years" list? To start off, here's No. 5: Never in a million years would I have imagined Martina Hingis' slam victories being sandwiched between Steffi Graf's last two majors. (Graf won the '96 U.S. Open and Hingis won '97 Australian Open.; Hingis won '99 Australian Open and Graf won the '99 French Open). No. 4?--Gona G. , Pompano Beach

Good question. Here are the four more off the top of my head. But if any of you guys have additional candidates, send 'em on. "Never in a million years would I have imagined that..."

1) Martina Navratilova would be playing on the WTA Tour after Hingis had retired.

2) Serena Williams would beat Venus six times running.

3) Boris Becker would, by his own admission, be grappling to find meaning in life in his mid-30s, while Agassi (married to Steffi Graf no less!) would be the self-possessed, content Buddha of the sport.

4) By early 2004, the WTA's glam cast would fissure to the point that the first Major would be missing Anna Kournikova, Jelena Dokic, Hingis, Monica Seles, Jennifer Capriati, and Serena Williams -- and there would still be plenty of players and matchups worth watching.

Now that you've had a number of Slams to consider it, what, in retrospect, is your opinion on the singles draw having 32 seeds instead of 16?--Cam Bennett, Wollongong, Australia

It's a delayed-gratification thing. More seeds means we miss the intriguing first-round matchups -- particularly on the women's side, where there are a lot of straight-set massacres in the early going. The 32 seeds only reinforce the fact that the Big Babes are just on a different level than players ranked 33rd and down.

On the other hand, the seedings pay dividends later on in the tournament. Guaranteeing that top players don't face an opponent ranked higher than No. 33 until the third round helps pave the way for compelling matchups in the quaterfinal, semis and finals. For the second Monday of a Slam, both draws are downright pomegranate-esque in their seed quotient. (If the previous sentence contains the word "pomegranate" my editor has just given new dimension to the word "permissive.")

It might be wishful thinking on my part, but after years of underperforming, Francesca ("Skeevy Wonder") Schiavone looks primed for a full-frontal assault on the top 10. She's had a great week in Sydney, and has a very sweet draw at the Australian. Your thoughts on her place in the WTA right now? --Karl Miller, Phoenixville, Pa.

Sorry, I'm collecting myself after spending a good few minutes laughing at "Skeevy Wonder." You make that one up? If so, send me your address and I'll ship you some swag. (Signed, sealed, delivered, it's yours.) Anyway, Schiavone is one of those gutsy, scrappy players who unfortunately lacks the percussive strokes to pose a serious challenge to the top guns. She does, however, get bonus points for a sweeping one-handed backhand. If everything breaks right and she plays enough events, maybe she could sneak into the top 10 under the cover of darkness. But a "full-frontal assault," quite apart from being a disturbing image, is unlikely. Speaking of nice players who lack knockout power...

When do you think Ashley Harkleroad will come into the spotlight as one of the top women in tennis, and what does she have to do to get there?--Tyler Grube, Columbus, Ind.

An aside for our readers: Columbus, Ind., is a gem of a town. Great architecture, great restaurants, home to Chuck Taylor. It was nicknamed "The Athens of the Prairie" by Lady Bird Johnson -- at least I think it was her. If you're ever traveling through the Midwest, we highly recommend making a side trip.

Anyway, we give Harkleroad credit for a) the way she competes; b) the manner in which she is steadily climbing the ranks and nearly won her first event a few weeks ago; c) her ability to play on all surfaces; and d) dialing back the "American Anna" garbage.

But I think her becoming one of the "top women" is a stretch. As we saw in the first round in Melbourne against Venus, Harkleroad just isn't armed with the requisite firepower to compete with the heavy hitters. I see her as a dangerous floater type who will make life difficult for the right player on the right day. No shame in that.

Do you agree that the ATP should not release the Champions Race rankings until, say, after Wimbledon, or at least the French Open? Tennis rankings on some sites provide hilarity such as Nicolas Escude as No. 1 and Dominik Hrbaty as No. 3. This could be very confusing -- and a turn-off -- to casual fans. --Ian Katz, Miami

I would go a step further. Now that the ISL deal (the real impetus behind the Champions Race) is deader than Gephardt's campaign and the Masters Cup is entrenched as a prestigious event that doesn't need to use the race's outcome as a selling point, how about scrapping the thing altogether? At a time when tennis needs to be more accessible to the masses, the dual rankings (Champions Race and ATP Entry Rankings) are entirely too confusing. Let's face it: the Champions Race was the Prohibition/New Coke/Urbanfetch.com of tennis. A noble experiment but ultimately a failure. Time to cut bait. Incidentally, last week I did a radio interview and was asked something to the effect of: "It seems Andy Roddick was a flash in the pan. Now I see that Nicolas Escude [pronounced as two syllables, of course] of France is the No.1 player. Is this Escude the real deal? And do you see Roddick ever getting back on top?" Uh ... where do you begin to answer that one?

At the beginning of every year, a friend and I bet on who will make the Masters Cup finals (you can tell we have riveting social lives). To give me some extra ammo, I thought I'd ask an expert. Who do you think will be the "elite eight" this year?--Craig Berry, Park Forest, Ill.

This is cheating a little because we have the benefit of three weeks' worth of results. But my suspicions are that the draw will look awfully similar to last year's. Maybe replace the struggling Rainer Schuettler with a Lleyton Hewitt or a Srichaphan Paradorn. And if Guillermo Coria isn't gangbusters on clay again, he could slip. But I don't see any real weak links. The great variable, of course, is injuries. "Hey, Carlos Moya is playing tremendously and is a real threat to win in Melbourne. No wait, he turned his ankle and is a non-starter." Things like that. Agassi is also a wild card. At this writing, he's playing terrifically but he has tended to fade as the year progresses; plus you wonder if family/uxorial issues will prevent him from playing enough events to secure a top-eight ranking.

Will Fernando Gonzalez ever accept and follow coaching that instructs him to modify his strategy of swinging like Barry Bonds on every shot? --Moody, New York

Someone has to explain this Gonzalez backlash to me. It's not just Moody. Following his match against Roddick in the first round, many were relentlessly hammering Gonzalez for a devil-may-care attitude toward ball-striking. Yet we complain that style is becoming too homogenous. Here's a guy built like a linebacker who tries to run around a 125-mph first serve and tomahawk a forehand. And we complain that he's too aggressive? Sure, it would probably serve him well to develop a change-up to go with the fastball. But a) it's not as though Gonzo has underachieved. Here's a young player who came within a loose game of reaching the 2002 U.S. Open semifinals, and b) It's hard for us to come down too hard on someone so entertaining.

After watching Fernando Gonzalez flail out (with gusto!) to Andy Roddick at the Aussie Open, I need to ask: Does he have the biggest forehand you have ever seen? Not that it adds up to wins of course, but he is entertaining!--Michael Taylor, Atlanta

That's more like it. Speaking of Gonzalez, a few of you wrote in complaining that ESPN had pilfered the nickname Flayin' Chilean. Far as we're concerned, the network can have it. Provided it airsmore of the guy's matches.

Maybe you can help me. I'm trying to resist the temptation to order digital cable so that I don't end up watching too much television, but it's the only way I can get the Tennis Channel. I'm trying to decide if it's worth it. What's your review so far? --Megan, Indianapolis

Full disclosure: Time Warner pays my salary. But spring for the digital cable. With respect to the Tennis Channel, it seems that those who get it love it.

"Journeyman" has to be among one of the most overused terms by journalists covering tennis. It seems that every player who doesn't crack the top 10, but has otherwise excellent professional credentials, endures this label. Perhaps you could help your brethren out with a definition?--Kevin Gibbs, Ottawa, Ontario

The term that gets me is "veteran." Any player who is in his or her 20s and has played at least a year on tour is suddenly conferred veteran status. Todd Woodbridge? Veteran. Sylvia Farina Elia? Veteran. Alex Bogomolov Jr.? Not a veteran. Stephanie Cohen-Aloro? Not a veteran.

Anyway, journeyman is an interesting characterization. Someone tell me if I'm wrong on this, but I assumed the term derived from middling players in team sports who "journeyed" from franchise to franchise, from the minors to the majors. To pick names at random, Kevin Ollie of the NBA, the late Ken Brett of Major League Baseball -- they were journeymen. So it's a little awkward to apply the handle to athletes in an individual sport. And yes, I agree with your thesis. Jonas Bjorkman is not a journeyman, Todd Martin is not a journeyman. Wayne Ferreira is not a journeyman. They may not have won Slams but they're not exactly bopping between Omaha and the big club in Kansas City either. They're more like, ya know, veterans.

What's up with everybody calling Kim Clijsters "Aussie Kim"? The Australians have so many great athletes (remember the Olympics in Sydney?). We Belgians only have two, so please leave them alone. --Cedric Vandorpe, Kortrijk, Belgium

Point taken. "Belgian Lleyton" it is.

Leaving Mario Ancic out of your Dark Horse Nation was not a good move. I mean, I guess that's why it's called a nation, but still ... I expected him to go a long way in Melbourne this year. And even though he lost in the third round, don't you think this will be his breakout year? (I use the conceit of a tag question to allow for your possibly differing viewpoint.)--Dustin Chad Alligood, Perry, Ga.

	MAILBAG Jon Wertheim will answer questions from SI.com users in his mailbag each Monday. Your name: Your e-mail address: Your home town: Enter your question:

Thanks for explaining the conceit. Here's my offer: I'll give you Ancic. You give me some props for Cyril Saunier. Deal? Seriously, Ancic is a big-server who is always a threat in theory; but he's not the guy you want to be backing when it's 4-4 in the fifth set. Until he can win more close matches -- though in fairness, he was great in Melbourne -- it's hard to describe him as "dangerous." Which prompts this question: is there such a thing as a non-dangerous floater? Hmm....

Just a follow up on the whole Vincent Spadea rapping thing: As a prospective junior in the Midwest, I actually came into contact with Spadea on numerous occasions. He is quite a character, and when he was off the court, he'd wear his hat either sideways or upside down and listen to rap music quite loudly. He would also freestyle rap between matches or while waiting around during tournaments, most notably Port Washington. --Gregory Allister, Youngstown, Ohio

Congratulations on being the first person ever to use the words "freestyle rap" and "Port Washington" in the same sentence. This Spadea-as-rapper business is too much.

Mizz-emo to Vinny Vee: Hizz-ave your agent contact the Tennis Channel stet. Out.

Have a great week everyone!

Sports Illustrated senior writer Jon Wertheim covers tennis for the magazine and is a regular contributor to SI.com.