Gender bending

While the women's game gets the ink, the men roll on

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. -- On the ATP Tour, there are no siblings who hail from the most unlikely tennis origins and stand head and shoulders above the field (at least when they feel like playing). There is no title-less matinee idol who makes a small country's GNP in endorsement deals. The top-ranked men's player was never undone by a mix of drugs, burnout and an ambitious dad. There is no tragic hero who was stabbed during a match and, despite competing valiantly, has failed to return to the top. There is little public trash talk. And there are few attention-grabbing parents.

Based on plotlines and backstories, women's tennis has it all over the men's game. So it's only natural that male players have taken a backseat in the marketing of the Nasdaq-100. And it's no wonder that ESPN cited a "scheduling change" and opted not to air a live broadcast of Thursday night's match between Lleyton Hewitt and Marat Safin, the past two U.S. Open champs.

Yet the dirty little secret of men's tennis is this: While the cast of characters might be lacking in drama and melodrama, the level of play has never been better. The players have never been better athletes. The shots have never been harder hit or more accurately placed. Matches have never been more fiercely contested. The prognostication of the mid-'90s that men's tennis would degenerate into a serving contest never came to pass. Not even close. Mindless heavy hitters like Mark Philippoussis have disappeared into ether while the next crop of top players -- with names like Hewitt, Safin, Federer, Kuerten, and Ferrero -- have been versatile players. They may not win many serving contests, but they'll win plenty of matches.

The salutary state of the men's game was readily apparent Thursday night and Friday afternoon. For nearly three hours on Thursday, Hewitt and Safin treated a near-capacity crowd to a borderline classic, an exceptionally high quality match that ended, fittingly, 7-6 in the third set. Though far more ink was spilled covering the Williams-Williams dust-up earlier in the day, Hewitt-Safin was infinitely better tennis and filled with far more drama. The crowd agreed, too. When Safin converted a third-set break point with a diving stab volley, he received an impromptu standing ovation. As the two players walked off the court, the applause was almost deafening. As one media member practically panted to Hewitt in the post-match press conference, "I think everyone here is unanimous that we feel privileged to have seen such a great, great match."

Observers were similarly privileged Friday afternoon. Before Marcelo Rios retired with tendinitis in his knee, he and Andre Agassi played two spellbinding sets of top-shelf tennis. The two players on tour with the most innate talent both came up with winner after breathtaking winner and discovered angles that defied all laws of physics. Time and again Rios staved off break points with mix of drop shots, flicked-up-the-line forehands and line-painting lobs. Agassi, the defending champ, was equal to the task, generating his own sorcery. A stark contest from the hollow atmosphere an afternoon earlier, the crowd -- including a few thousand vocal Chileans who bought walk-up tickets Friday morning -- was "way into the match," as Agassi put it.

Two nights ago, during the Kim Clijsters-Monica Seles quarterfinal, ESPN commentators Mary Joe Fernandez and Pam Shriver remarked that since both players hit so hard, the match would naturally be a festival of unforced errors. Likewise Venus Williams stated Thursday that because she and her sister hit so hard, long rallies are hard to come by. Since when have power and clean tennis become mutually exclusive? It certainly isn't the case on the men's tour, where the players positively blister the ball; yet they control it and can go games without missing the court. And those who can't aren't destined for the upper rankings. Consider: One of the most powerful ball-strikers in men's tennis today is Fernando Gonzalez who, before beating Pete Sampras, had to qualify for this event. Where's Taylor Dent, who has the most potent serve in the men's game? He failed to make the draw.

So if the quality of play is so superb and the styles so variegated, what to make of this impression that men's tennis is on the downswing? Why the longing for the days of Connors and McEnroe when players like Hewitt, Safin, Agassi and Federer are probably much better? An Arizona Republic columnist gave us some insight last month. In a piece titled "Women's game much better brand of tennis," Scott Bordow wrote: "The men's tour is a bunch guys named Francisco." Never mind the product on the court. Men's tennis is an inferior product because the players have funny sounding names and, implicitly, come from far-away lands. Some, we can assume, even commit the cardinal sin of speaking less than perfect English.

At some level, it's understandable that American fans follow sports more closely when they feature American players. And, sure, it would do wonders for the sport if Hewitt had a history to rival that of the Williams' sisters. If Safin was from L.A and if Kuerten spoke flawless English. And sure, the men's game would welcome a marginal player that could pack them in as Anna Kournikova does. But if more fans listened to sound and not the noise, and watched the light and not the heat, perceptions about the men's game would change in a hurry.

Drop shots

You have love Marcelo Rios' candor. His thoughts on Friday's match with Agassi: "If I wasn't injured, there's no way he can beat me." ... Following Thursday night's match, Safin did a Paul O'Neill job on one of the lockers in the men's changing room. Between that and the Benz, Safin has inflicted some quality damage at this event. ... In a battle between the flavor of the month and the flavor of last month, Maria Sharapova beat Ashley Harkelroad in straight sets of the girls' draw. ... In boys' singles, Indiana's own, Rajeev Ram, trounced the highly regarded Brian Baker, 6-3, 6-0.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Jon Wertheim covers tennis for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com. Click here to send a question to his Tennis Mailbag.

 

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