Why didn't Agassiz do better in the Olympics? Who *did* prevail in the Olympics finally?

The US Open's on now. Any comments that that?

Does anyone have a recommendation for a racquet?

I have lots of recommendations for racquets. I think the best "type" of racquet that you should get is a wide body racquet. This will enable you to generate 50-75% more power with the exact same stroke. Now the brand of racquet is a different story. Most tennis brands will have some type of widebody racquet. It all depends on the amount of money that you want to spent. If you tell me the amount of money that you want to spend, I can tell you several good brands of racquets to look into.

I hear Prince is pretty good. But I haven't checked out the latest stuff.

The US Open day four. Looks like the Martina Hingis and Pete Sampras show. Top seeded Sampras put on a clinic today. Sampras played some of the most exciting tennis I've ever seen him play. He's loose, relaxed and even a bit wild. Martina doesn't seem to come unhinged. She keeps rolling on.

What's going on in tennis? Hingis just had her third loss, to Amanda Coetzer. This 5-2 phenom is having a great year. She's downed both number one players this year while they were number one. Impressive. Meanwhile, Venus Williams is one of the most exciting players on the horizon, I keep waiting for her major breakthrough. Don't get me wrong, I love watching Hingis play. The womens' game is very exciting right now. I still like McEnroe's idea of going back to wooden rackets, hey, I've still got mine. Where is this big serve game going? There's even a new racquet, which claims to be approved by the ITF, which is double-strung to make serves more rocketlike. I had a great talk last night with Scott McTeer, Austinite and former world ranked tennis player, who's wrapping up a tennis novel and supporting an exciting up and coming player (more about this later).

Is Scott planning a website?

Glad you asked, stay tuned!

i agree with mac, re:wooden rackets... (hmmm, maybe mac oughta be like the "commissioner of tennis" or something... sure he could re-invigorate the game)

I've still got my trusty old wooden, Jack Kramer. But it would be hopeless for me. Only a good idea for the pros.

i still have my john newcombe, as well... but yeah, i can't imagine using it now, either... stick with my oversized head (though i may dig the old one out, and hit against the machine a little bit, just to see what it feels like...)

from Sports Biz Daily: AT AUSTRALIAN OPEN, MAURESMO'S SEXUALITY IS ALL THE BUZZ Women's tennis has been "getting top billing lately," and the women's final of the Australian Open between Martina Hingis and Amelie Mauresmo is "expected to attract greater attention than the men's final Sunday," according to USA TODAY's Doug Smith. WTA Tour CEO Bart McGuire: "We have so many more marquee players and more depth." McGuire also acknowledged that "sex appeal" is a factor in the tour's popularity: "I'm not the least apologetic about the fact that we have attractive people on the tour. You have to be careful to promote them tastefully and try to make sure that lines aren't crossed." Meanwhile, Mauresmo "stirred a bit of controversy earlier this week when she announced she was" at the tournament with her 31-year-old girlfriend, Sylvie Bourdon. But McGuire felt that won't hurt the Tour's image: "You try to accept people for who they are. I hope that we will continue to be able to do that" (USA TODAY, 1/29). In Toronto, Tom Tebbutt writes that "all the focus" at the tournament was "about the 19-year-old French woman's sexuality." Tebbutt adds "that a prominent French Tennis Federation official told Mauresmo there was nothing wrong with being gay but that she should tone down her liaison in public" (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 1/29). In Boston, Bud Collins: "It will take more than sniping to beat the cheerful, engaging Mauresmo, who has been straightforwardly casual about her personal life" (BOSTON GLOBE, 1/29).