TENNIS AT ALTITUDE

The future of men's tennis is really tall.

Juan Martin Del Potro, 6'6", broke through at the U.S. Open and pocketed his first Slam, and Marin Cilic, 6'6", served notice at this year's Aussie Open that he's going to be a tough out for a long time to come.  This past Sunday in Memphis, best friends John Isner and Sam Querrey played in the tallest final in the history of the ATP, with Querrey the victor, 6-7, 7-6, 6-3.  Out of the four giants, Isner is the elder at 24, Querrey is 22, and both Del Potro and Cilic are a mere 21 years of age.  It used to be that bigger guys didn't move as well and smaller players could offset the deficit in power with a decisive edge in speed.  But that's not so much the case with this new crop of racketed skyscrapers. Their movement is surprisingly fluid and yet they retain the force that comes with great size.  That combination is a game changer.  One that The Maestro, Rafa, The Djoker, Roddick, Murray, et. al., will have to contend with this year and many years to come.  And so will the rest of the world.

Last week, Patrick McEnroe chose Isner and Querrey to represent the U.S. in Davis Cup, replacing Andy Roddick and James Blake.  Thus, it's become quite clear that for men's tennis, and American tennis, things are definitely looking up.

TENNIS WITH PADDLES AND DEAD BALLS

Played Paddle Tennis yesterday for the first time in a long time.  In fact, it was the first time I played any variety of tennis in a couple of months.  Needless to say, I woke up this morning with some out-of-shape soreness.  If I had the energy, I'd explain the differences between Paddle Tennis and Tennis, but I'm beat.  So I'm taking the lazy way out and directing you to this video for a visual illustration of the game. While you do that, I'm gonna go stretch and try to sneak into someone's hot tub.

TENNIS ON ICE... SO NICE

To stave off depression and fill the void left by the conclusion of the Australian Open, I've been overdosing on the Winter Olympics. Tonight should be especially exciting.  The prospect of finally getting to see the much-delayed Women's Downhill featuring American skiing superstar Lindsey Vonn gives me warm feelings all over.  Of course, that warmth could be due to the 80-degree February weather we're currently experiencing here in SoCal.

Yeah, on second thought, maybe those warm feelings have nothing to do with the weather.  However... I'm also superstoked to watch Shaun White (aka The Flying Tomato) (aka The Animal) attempt to pull off his patented Double Cork and conquer the Half-Pipe for double gold.

But, witnessing all this intense competition, mostly in individual sports, has me aching for tennis once again.  Which got me to thinking... Why not add a new surface to the game and play Ice Tennis at the Winter Games?!  Genius, right?  I mean, Roger Federer already moves with the grace of a figure skater.  Think how beautiful he'll be gliding around the ice court.  And we've all seen Rafa slide on clay.  Imagine how much court he would cover on a frozen surface. Sure, there may be some logistical issues with proper footwork and the risk of injury and whatnot, but that's what the Winter Games are all about -- great skill in the face of potential danger!  Of course, like you, I have my doubts that tennis on ice will ever come to fruition, but at least it gives the Olympic Committee something to think about for 2014 in Sochi, Russia.

In doing some research, much to my surprise, the ridiculous concept of Ice Tennis already occurred to some folks back in 1916 and 1918. Even more surprising... it didn't catch on.

SPORCLE AND SHINE

When I'm not obsessing on tennis, I'm playing Sporcle.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with Sporcle, it's an incredible website loaded with timed quizzes.  Billed as "mentally stimulating diversions," the site tests your knowledge of Geography, Entertainment, Science, History, Literature, Sports, Movies, Music, Television, and everything else under the sun.  At first, you try to fill in as many answers as you possibly can in hopes of acing the test.  Then, if you're eager and determined, you can play the same game over and over again until you have it down cold.  I believe they call that learning.  Before Sporcle, my base of knowledge in the field of geography was suspect at best.  Now, I can name every single country in the world and place it on the map.  Not only have I sporcled the World, I've sporcled the Periodic Table, U.S. Presidents, top fast food chains in America, English Alpha Code words, Olympic host cities, and winners of the Tour de France, to name just a few.  Tennis is represented by a handful of outstanding lists, none of them particularly easy.  For a solid starting test, try to name the players ranked in the Men's Top 50, given only the country of origin:

ATP Men's Top 50

Now, if you're really fired up about sporcling tennis and can spell like a nerdy home-schooled kid, try to fill out the chart of the Women's Top 50:

WTA Women's Top 50

Yeah, that was a bit cruel of me on your first day.  But don't give up. Remember, if you put your mind to it, there's nothing in this world you can't do.  Class dismissed.