Will Martina Hingis (seen here at the U.S. Open in 2002) make a return to the Tour? Al Bello/Getty Images

A few notes on Spain's Davis Cup triumph below, but let's begin with a possible comeback ...

OK ... a doubles match with Svetlana Kuznetsova? A singles match against Gabriela Sabatini? And playing in the Volvo Tourney in January 2005? Come on Jon, WITHIGOW Martina "The Chuckster" Hingis?
  -- Ted M., Baltimore

A lot of e-mails this week asking the same question. First she enters a few exhibitions and now a WTA event -- albeit away from the spotlight in Thailand. Her peeps encourage us not to read too much into all of this -- "it's a charitable initiative, consistent with Martina's many charitable involvements," an Octagon rep tells the 'Bag -- but this smells an awful lot like the initial steps of a comeback. If Hingis is in fact coming back, it's great news for tennis. She is a name. She is a personality. She is a terrific player. And at 24, she still has a good many years left -- provided, of course she's healthy.

On the subject of Hingis and returns from retirement, Caitlin of Ann Arbor, Mich., was kind enough to pass along this link (registration required).

I just read a startling statistic: After winning three Grand Slam titles, three Masters Series tournaments and the year-end championships, Roger Federer made $6.35 million this year. Pete Sampras won $6.5 million (the all-time record) in '97 after winning two Grand Slams, two Masters Series events and the year-end championships. Could you shed some light on this salary difference? I would have expected Federer to earn much more considering tournaments often increase prize money annually.
  -- Jimmy Doan, Huntington Beach, Calif.

Greg Sharko, the Roger Federer of tennis research, informs us that Sampras won $2 million at the Grand Slam Cup and $833,333 in bonus money, neither of which currently exist.

Among these seven talented youngsters (Joachim Johansson, Tommy Robredo, Mario Ancic, Rafael Nadal, Feliciano Lopez, Robin Soderling, and Tomas Berdych), who do you see as a major and consistent force (top 5 to 8 in the world) as early as a year from now?
  -- Jeff Beacham, Cleveland Hts., Ohio

For better or worse, a solid rookie season doesn't necessarily bode well for the future. Other players pick up your tendencies and your game and, playing under the pressure of defending points, it's easy to backslide. A few years ago an announcer (Cliff Drysdale?) waxed rhapsodic about the Swedish rookie Andreas Vinciguerra. "You're going to be hearing a lot more from this guy!" he gushed. Well, other players got hip to Vinciguerra's lefty game, and compounding matters, he battled a string of injuries. A top-50 player before he turned 20, he doesn't even get his own page in the current media guide. All of which is a long way to say: Don't be surprised if a few of the aforementioned prospects don't pan out.

Barring injury (no small condition these days) most of the players you've named should be top 10ers. I might hold off on Ancic. I fear he's way too erratic and mentally shaky. Soderling could use some more power. Same for Robredo. I might add Fernando Verdasco to the list. I also like Mikhail Youzhny. Maybe add a Frenchman -- J.P. Mathieu, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or Gael Monfils -- too, to cover your bets. But overall, you've hit the biggies.

Of course it's Arnaud Clement in the Lacoste commercial ... it's one of the best commercials I have seen in a long time. The singing and commercial were beautiful. My question is, who's singing?
  --  Marianne Bianchi, Houston

At least of dozen of you -- "Arnaud's Army" as it were -- wrote in confirming it is Clement. As for the singer, I believe it is Sebastien Grosjean. Oh, we jest. A copy of the Preppy Handbook or comparable door prize for anyone who knows the answer.

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:

Check the sugar content on the wasabi peas, and you will no longer consider them to be the perfect snack food.
  -- K.M. Semple, Fairfield, Ohio

That's okay. They've been replaced by these little manchego and chorizo sandwiches they serve in Seville. (Fortunately there's no available nutritional info for those bad boys.)

The lack of popularity of doubles is often brought up in the 'Bag. Incidentally, I ran into this survey on the ATP Web site. Here's the chance for those doubles fans to voice their opinions!
  -- Linda, Washington, D.C.

Thanks. Go ahead. And vote as often as you like. (Pretend you live in ... oh, never mind.)

Commentators love to suggest that the players at the top of the sport inspire people to pick up tennis (or any sport). Do you think Federer is so gifted he actually might drive some observers to say, 'I could never play like that, so why bother?'
  -- Jon, Seattle

Never thought of it that way. We like to think human nature isn't quite that defeatist. Do we chuck our violins when we hear Joshua Bell? Smash our easels when we come across a Van Gogh? Tear up our journals when we read Gustave Flaubert?

At risk of beating the Maria Sharapova issue to death ... when are you and Jim Loehr going to team together to write an insightful book regarding the psychology of the father/daughter dynamic so predominant in tennis. Just look at the examples of the good (Karolj Seles), the bad (Jim Pierce) and the very ugly (Damir Dokic).
  --  R. Dale Stafford, Atlanta

Loehr doesn't need my help. But I agree that the topic of "Paternal Propinquity in Tennis" is pretty rich book fodder. A friend of mine has a theory that an overbearing father is a pre-req for success in the sport -- especially in women's tennis. Without Pops snapping the reigns and doing the whole Svengali thing, a talented player hits puberty and loses interest in a solitary pursuit. While there are exceptions -- Lindsay Davenport springs immediately to mind -- it is the rare player who didn't have a powerful personality overseeing his/her game as a junior.

Here is an unsolicited book idea someone should pursue: In the days after 9/11, more than 50,000 Americans returning home and Europeans on their way to the U.S. were marooned in Newfoundland until American airports reopened. (This was rehashed last week when President Bush visited Canada.) The waylaid travelers stayed in the homes of locals and crowded into high school gyms to watch CNN. You interview the guests and hosts, recount the various random acts of kindness that week and update us on relationships that persist. Presto, you have a best-seller. In two countries, no less.

Gaston Gaudio is my favorite tennis player. I know he isn't consistent, has a questionable hard- and grass-court record and is 25, but do you foresee another Major in his future?
  -- Ben Bittner, Oshkosh, Wisc.

Gaudio is many things. But a two-time Grand Slam champion is not one of them.

The primary reason the broader world doesn't give Federer the glory he deserves is that less than two years ago everyone was falling all over themselves to claim Pete Sampras was the best ever. Federer has been cursed by poor timing.
  -- R. Dale Stafford, Atlanta

Fair point. Sort of like the way the "next Jordans" were inherently doomed to fail. But you could just as easily make the opposite point. We have Sampras' greatness fresh on our minds. And here comes this Swiss kid who plays as smoothly, wins three Majors in a year (something Sampras never did) and has us all wondering how the two would fare in a head-to-head match at full strength. We feel more comfortable anointing Federer because we know what Sampras looked like in his prime. Otherwise we're stuck making those unsatisfying inter-era comparisons.

If Federer struggles against Andre Agassi (as he did at the U.S. Open this year or at the '03 Tennis Masters Cup), how is it that Federer dominates Lleyton Hewitt, a player with a game similar to Agassi's?
  -- Paul Udani, Manila, Philippines 

You're too quick to liken Agassi to Hewitt. Yes, both are modestly-sized baseliners who do a lot of the same things well. But they play different games -- from Agassi's superior ability to hit inside the baseline to Hewitt's superior quickness. Agassi matches up well with Federer on a number of levels. But Agassi is also a difficult opponent because he is an overwhelming crowd favorite wherever he plays. (And he always plays on the big court.) Tennis players tend not to think in terms of home game and road games, but it has to be disconcerting to take the court knowing 15,000 people are cheering for the other guy.

OK, I've had it. ESPN aired a SportsCentury installment on Andy Roddick -- Andy Roddick! This is a guy who has won one U.S. Open title. I've been waiting for the Ivan Lendl segment for five years. Why does a guy who won eight times the number of Slams as Roddick continue to get slighted?
  -- Jay Zavislak, Phoenix

You think that's bad? The Donald Young SportsCentury is already in production. (That was a joke.)

What happened to Super Set Tennis in Dallas?
  -- Patrick Preston, Lexington, Ky.

Did you look under the couch?

Random Davis Cup jottings

• Congratulations to Spain for winning the Davis Cup last weekend in Seville, Spain, beating the U.S. 3-2 in the final.

• You haven't lived until you've stood among 27,000 fans cheering a well-executed drop shot. An unbelievable setting for tennis. The Spanish fans are to be commended for cheering their team and having a good time -- more than 20,000 stayed for the dead rubber between Mardy Fish and Tommy Robredo! -- while never crossing the line.

• It was nice to see Carlos Moya, one of the sport's bona fide good guys, win the decisive match for Spain.

• Rafael Nadal is, as they say in the NBA, The Truth.

• Before we administer last rites to tennis, consider that more than 80,000 fans turned out -- some of them camping out overnight for tickets -- to attend this tie. And that Nadal and Moya graced the front page -- not the front sports page, the front page -- of a half dozen newspapers.

• An hour or so after the last match, the U.S. team blew off steam by playing baseball (hitting tennis balls with the butt of the racket) on a grass patch of the stadium. When a reporter asked Roddick for a quote he joked, "I'm Barry Bonds. I'm not taking any questions from the press."

• Gotta believe BNP Paribas got its money's worth on its sponsorship this year.

• Can someone explain why Bob Bryan isn't a top-50 singles player? Put that guy on a fast court and his serve and net game alone wins half his matches.

• Speaking of volleying, it was nice to see Roddick making a concerted effort to get netward. We look forward to seeing him in Australia.

• Just asking: If I got stopped at the metal detector at the Seville stadium because I had coins in my pocket, how did the Spanish fans get through the doors with tubas?

• Given his longevity, his family commitments and his unambiguous stance on the issue, you can't really fault Agassi for declining Pat McEnroe's entreaties. But it's fair to wonder how the U.S. would have fared had he played.

• Best fan banner: "Being an American Davis Cup fan? Priceless. (Even more in Euros)."

• The first round of the '05 Davis Cup pits the U.S. against Croatia and will be held at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.

Other random jottings

• A book recommendation to pass along: Anyone with an interest in the rags-to-riches-to-rags story of the Volvo International tournament -- once a summer staple in New England -- will want to check out Jim Westhall's Nonsense at the Net. Westhall, an inimitable promoter, ran the event for 26 years before a combination of dubious New Haven politics, bank-breaking appearance fees and plain old bad luck forced him to sell this gem of a tour stop. To obtain a copy, e-mail Jim at westhall99@aol.com.

• Re: the origins of the word "seed," we had a lot of responses but most went to the same Web site. As always, thanks to all who took the time to write in.

I believe Henry Su of Mountain View, Calif., is our winner.

• Tony Lance of New York City writes: "I answered a similar query [about the derivation of the word 'seed'] in my Q&A column in Tennis back in Nov. '01. Although the exact origin is obscure (I could find no evidence it's even tennis-specific), I concluded it's most likely an agricultural allusion. Just as a farmer sows seeds at regular intervals to prevent them from growing too closely together, so are players planted (or seeded) into positions in a tournament bracket to prevent them from competing against one another too soon."

• Molly of Denver writes: "FYI -- Mike and Bob Bryan are hosting the Colorado Athletic Club Monaco Holiday Pro Am on Dec. 10 and 11. For more info, please call Andy at 303-758-7080."

• Gustavo Kuerten was selected last week to greet Brazil's president, Luiz Inacion Lula da Silva, at the Hercilio Luz Airport in Florianopolis. LILdS flew to the island for political commitments and to visit his newborn grandson.

• This link describes Jim Courier's win over Thomas Muster at the Seniors event in London this past week. Both players showed an uncommon display of sportsmanship throughout the match.

Separated at birth

• Your reward for reading this far: Check out long-lost siblings Chad Pennington and David Nalbandian.

• A housekeeping note: Next week we'll do the annual Baggy Awards. Then we'll have a small Bag for the rest of the year.

Have a great week, everyone!

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