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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - James Blake and Andy Roddick are in excellent position to reach the eight-man, $3.7 million Masters Cup that begins Nov. 13 and also in excellent position to counter this summer's stories about the decline of American tennis.
But while they've got a strong point to make about men's tennis, there is no debate about the future of U.S. women's tennis.
With the Williams sisters in decline, primarily because of injuries, and Lindsay Davenport probably close to making a retirement announcement, who is out there?
Vania King of Long Beach, Calif., did a nice job last week in winning a Tier III ($175,000) event in Bangkok that provided her with a 36-spot bump to No. 54 in the rankings and, at age 17, she's a prospect, though a limited one at only 5 feet 5 and about 130 pounds.
On balance, women's tennis in America is in retreat. Three years ago, four American women finished the year in the top 10, six in the top 20 and 14 in the top 100.
This week there isn't a U.S. player in the top 10, one (Davenport) in the top 20 and only 11 in the top 100. Venus Williams has slipped to 53, Serena Williams to 95. And three of the top 100 (Davenport, Amy Frazier and Jill Craybas) are 30 or older.
While the men have a legitimate star prospect in 6-foot-6 Sam Querrey of Thousand Oaks, Calif., who just turned 19, there is no comparable player on the women's side with top-20 ability. Querrey has quickly climbed to No. 137.
Electronic line calling
The Hawk-Eye replay system, which has had successful runs at Key Biscayne, in the U.S. Open Series and the U.S. Open itself, will be used in Madrid, probably at the final Masters Series tournament, in Paris (Oct. 30-Nov. 5), and at the Cup finals in Shanghai.
It has worked brilliantly and will spread to more tournaments in 2007, but I'm still not in agreement with Gayle Bradshaw, the ATP's rules czar, on what I consider a crucial side issue.
Before there was electronic line calling, it wasn't unusual for a player to look to the chair for a second opinion on whether a ball was out or good and the umpire would typically either shrug or indicate he isn't sure or perhaps hold up two fingers, about an inch apart, to indicate it was close - too close to overrule.
The players are still looking to the chair and the umpires are responding, which gives a competitive advantage to the other player. The questioning player has two unsuccessful challenges per set under the line-calling system. Let him use them. It's no longer the chair umpire's responsibility to soothe the player's conscious or, in this case, suggest that he not use one of his challenges.
Bradshaw's view is that it's all part of the traditional umpire's responsibilities.
Drop shots
Nikolay Davydenko, who rarely misses a week of work, now has played 85 matches after winning Moscow and, to put that in perspective, that's three more matches than Roger Federer, who goes deep into every draw. Last year Davydenko played 86 matches. . ..
Marcelo Rios, who is winning every tournament on the European seniors tour, is unlikely to be invited to compete on Jim Courier's U.S. seniors tour. He's still only 30, which gives him a substantial edge on a lot of "senior" players who are 35 or older.
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(c) 2006 South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Distributed by Mclatchy-Tribune News Service.
