Tennis-X Friday Rage: Brits, Masters Hopes and Dopes

The Battle for Britain
British tennis fans had a mouthwatering meeting Wednesday in Lyon where British No. 1 Tim Henman nervously fumbled and bumbled through a slew of unforced errors in losing a first-time meeting with Brit-Scot Andy Murray.

Afterward Murray, who was choked with emotion following the victory over his hero, delivered an unintentionally stinging backhand compliment to the soon-to-be-former British No. 1.

"He's still a Top 30 player even though he's had a bad year by his standards," Murray said of Henman. "If he plays the way he can, he can still be in the Top 30, or even 20."

Ouch.

Hey Andy, try and recall it was roughly only 12 months ago that Henman finished at No. 6 in the world. In one year's time he's become an also-ran incapable of cracking the Top 10?

Henman shrugged off the significance of the meeting.

"I don't know what this mystery thing is that I'm meant to be passing on -- what is it? A torch, a flag, a baton?" Henman said. "Whatever it is I'm more than happy for Andy to have it. On this occasion, I won't be offended. I guess I've had it since the first time I beat (former British number one) Jeremy Bates, but for us players it's irrelevant."

Right. Had Henman won it would have been, 'Yes, it was a big test, tough one for the lad, better luck next time, chin up and all that, lots of potential that kid.'

While 0-1 against Murray, Henman can still hold up his 7-2 career record against grinning Canuck-turned-Brit Greg Rusedski.

A Masters Cup Party But Will Anyone Show?
In a perfect world, next month's Masters Cup in Shanghai would feature the Top 8 men in the world fighting it out in a year-end spectacular. In reality, Masters Cup organizers (which, since this is a joint-run event, includes the ATP, ITF and the four Slams) are biting their nails over a potential four players, or half the field, missing from the elite eight due to injuries and baby-making.

Potentially missing the party will be world No. 1 Roger Federer (ankle), No. 4 Lleyton Hewitt whose wife is giving birth to their first little screamer, No. 5 Marat Safin (knee), and No. 6 Andre Agassi (back). It's bad enough that personality-deficient Russian Nikolay Davydenko will likely clinch the final open spot in the field over the exciting Ivan Ljubicic, but a floodgate of injury withdrawals would open additional spots for Ljuby and the Argentine Anti-Doping Army in Gaston Gaudio, Mariano Puerta and David Nalbandian. Gaudio and Nalbandian, to their credit, have avoided the doping specter connected to Argentina, but the addition of Puerta, currently under investigation, would open an unwanted can of watercress chestnuts in Shanghai.

Now throw in Rafael Nadal, who has pulled from next week's Masters Series-Paris with a bum knee.

From players currently trailing inside the Top 20, shame you couldn't throw in someone willing to hit every forehand for a winner like Fernando Gonzalez, or a youngster with the ability to topple Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal such as Robby Ginepri or Richard Gasquet, or a former No. 1 coming to ego-grips with now being an also-ran, such as Juan Carlos Ferrero.

Injuries have plagued the women's tour all year, and now the men are taking their turn -- with neither tour announcing investigations as to whether new racquet technology, overtraining, etc. are contributing to the sideline exodus. For the sake of the game, fans and officials alike should keep their fingers crossed for the year-end championship to resemble the best of the best than rather, say, the Sopot event.

Too bad the tour has done nothing to address this. Which takes us to...

Who Isn't Injured?
The year-end championships for the men and women begin in the new few weeks and the list of top players who have qualified but are currently sitting out with injury is long: Roger Federer (ankle), Rafael Nadal (knee), Andre Agassi (back), Marat Safin (knee), Maria Sharapova (chest muscle), Mary Pierce (leg), Amelie Mauresmo (leg), Justine Henin-Hardenne (leg), and Venus and Serena Williams suffering from various injuries. Serena is out of the qualifying race with injury, and Venus is iffy to qualify since she may not be able to play at Philadelphia next week.

Can you imagine the PGA Tour or any other major sports body ignoring an injury plague like tennis? The PGA would convene some kind of injury investigation committee faster than they could say 'Oh God Tiger better not get injured! Oh God oh God oh God...' Yet tennis is content to watch its stars sit on the sidelines in ever-increasing numbers. And why?

The injuries are likely a result of the greater demand placed on top players to scramble for shots launched by the super-technology racquets. More sprinting, more stretching, more jerking around than in past years. But heaven forbid the men's or women's tennis associations take on the all-powerful racquet manufacturers. Wilson, Prince ands Head should band together and start their own competing tour, it wouldn't be difficult considering the pull they already exert in tennis.

How about the ATP and WTA in 2006 addressing some of the primary problems in tennis rather than spending all their energy ruining doubles, not getting tennis on TV or stopping players from wearing anything interesting on court?

Doping Leaks Hurt Players, Tennis
The ATP has had its trials and tribulations with doping over the last couple years (see: Greg Rusedski, Bohdan Ulihrach, handing out tainted supplements, etc.), and was happy to announce recently that they would be handing their drug testing over to the International Tennis Federation (ITF) for 2006. That's a big load off their shoulders.

But how happy can you be when your new partner in tennis' war on drugs leaks a positive test to the media, as was the case with Mariano Puerta, who was outed by L'Equipe, with still no confirmation from the ITF or ATP?

"We thank the ATP for the excellent program that they have managed up to now and we are delighted that we will continue to work closely with them on educational programs directed at the players and on other matters related to the program," said ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti, impressively using the word "program" three times in one sentence. "We are all committed to a drug-free environment in our sport."

Now time to work towards a leak-free environment -- if Puerta beats the wrap like Ulihrach and Rusedski did, someone's going to need to cough up around $1.5 mil. out-of-court to keep him quiet and content, if history and inflation serve as a guide.

Tennis in the U.S. Anyone?
If the tennis powers that be in the U.S. (USTA/ATP/WTA/DOE/CIA/ABCDE) wonder why the sport's popularity in the States still ranks at No. 17 behind Girl's High School chess, check the number of tennis tournaments that have been shown on TV (major network or basic cable) after the US Open -- zero. Professional volleyball and poker can get their product on the tube easier than tennis. Talk about dropping the ball, both the ATP and WTA have some of their biggest events (Masters Series and Tier I respectively) on the calendar after the US Open. But to casual U.S. fans, for all they know the season is over. Which raises the question, does a sport exist if it isn't on TV?

Richard Vach is a senior writer for Tennis-X.com.