1 Can new boss-of-the-bench Jim Courier continue to curry fraternal favor with Roddick & Co. the way outgoing U.S. Davis Cup captain/pledge master Patrick McEnroe did for the past decade?
Aside from returning the Cup to American soil in ’07 after a dozen-year absence, PMac’s tenure will be best remembered for its esprit de corps. By tapping into young guns Roddick, Blake, the Bryan Bros., Fish and Ginepri, he created an all-for-one/one-for-all frat-house environment, and in doing so, made Dwight’s Pot seem relevant again. No longer did the U.S. have to worry about its top stars (think Sampras, Agassi, Chang) reporting for duty on a tie-to-tie basis. No longer was there a malefic atmosphere of infighting (think Connors vs. Johnny Mac). When it comes to career goals, the World Group title now sits side by side with the Slams. On the surface, you would expect much of the same from Captain Courier, a clenched-teeth competitor with plenty of Davis Cup heroics on his resume. But he’s taking the reins at an interesting time, when a new generation of players (Isner, Querrey, Harrison, etc.) appears eager to move into the mix. If you plan on juggling egos, Mr. Courier, beware the bruise.
2 Is there life for American tennis in a post-apocalyptic/post-Williams world?
Catch ’em while you can, because the cruel-world truth is, the Williams Sisters (they of a combined 20 Slams) won’t be around forever. Venus turned 30 last summer and, shockingly, hasn’t won a non-grass-court Slam since the ’01 U.S. Open. Her semifinal run in Flushing Meadows last year was inspiring, but we’re fooling ourselves if we think that, away from the emerald lawns of SW19, she has much of a shot at padding her Slam resume. Serena, meanwhile, played just six tournaments in ’10, and has been sidelined since Wimbledon due to a freak foot injury. (Asked columnist Art Spander, “Exactly why anyone steps on a glass, other than a groom at a Jewish wedding ceremony, is beyond most of us.”) No one’s better mastered the cat-and-mouse art of dipping in and out of the calendar while managing to play her best tennis in big-match moments, but at 29, it’s only going to get harder. And without the Williamses in the mix, things look downright grim. The next highest ranked American woman? No. 58 Bethanie Mattek-Sands.
3 Who’ll rise up to challenge the Roger-Rafa Duopoly?
We’re talking N.Y. Yankee dominance here. A Russell-Cousy-Jones ascendance. A John Wooden-like dynasty. The seemingly invincible tandem of Federer and Nadal has collectively accounted for an off-the-hook 24 of the last 28 majors dating back to ’04. Only Gaston Gaudio, Marat Safin, Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin Del Potro managed to infiltrate their Slam Jam during that stretch. There were some (Baghdatis, Gulbis, Montanes, etc.) who found chinks in The Mighty Fed’s armor last year, and even The Masterful Mallorcan Nadal suffered the occasional lapse (Lopez, Ljubicic, Melzer, Garcia Lopez, etc.), but the duo’s biggest challenge will likely come from Novak Djokovic (who shocked Federer in a USO semi epic for the ages and comes into ’11 buoyed by his nation’s Davis Cup breakthrough), Andy Murray (who notched wins over both last year), Robin Soderling (who downed Fed at Roland Garros) and Tomas Berdych (who finally appears ready to fulfill his promise after downing Federer en route to his first Grand Slam final at Wimbledon).
4 Will a teen phenom emerge?
Andrea Jaeger broke through at the U.S. Open as a ponytailed 15-year-old. Tracy Austin became the youngest-ever USO champ at 16. Swiss Miss Martina Hingis, 17, was a Roland Garros title away from winning the calendar year Grand Slam in ’97. Monica Seles grunted her way to eight Slam titles before she turned 20. It used to be that the women’s circuit was dominated by tireless teen terrors. Oh how times have changed. Caroline Wozniacki rose to No. 1 at the age of 20, but the average age of the four major titlists was 28.75 – far from geriatric, but a marked change from the days when youth regularly eclipsed experience. The reason? Gianni Clerici once observed, “You can still call it tennis, but sometimes it’s much closer to wrestling. Sometimes it’s too muscular for my taste.” The politically incorrect Italian journalist was only half joking: As the sport becomes more and more of a power game, the physical demands are becoming too great for on-the-rise teens, many of whom aren’t yet fully developed. “Teenage champions don’t happen like THAT,” said the last teen Slam champ, Maria Sharapova, snapping her fingers. “It’s not easy.”
5 Is the sun setting on the A-Rod Era?
Andy Roddick’s decision to forgo the ’10 Davis Cup campaign spoke volumes. The Texan’s no dummy. He knows that time’s of the essence if he’s going to win another Slam. He wanted no distractions, no unnecessary injuries. It was a prudent decision. But it didn’t pay off. He failed to top his quarterfinal finish at the AO and, after a humbling five-set loss to Yen-Hsun Lu at Wimbledon, he came down with mono and fell out of the top 10 for the first time since ’06 (leaving us, albeit briefly, with no American man in the top 10 for the first time in 37 years). Although he’s no longer capable of blowing elite opponents off the court, the best American man of his generation (only he and Federer have finished inside the top 10 nine years running) isn’t ready to toss in the towel. Entering ’11, he’s gone Mardy Fish, having shed a few pounds, and says he’s more than motivated. “I feel healthy and fit for the first time since May,” said Roddick. “There’s nothing I’m trying to cover up.”
6 Can Young Turks Sam Querrey and John Isner carry the torch?
John McEnroe deemed them “excellent players bordering on great players,” but whether or not world Nos. 18-19 Sam Querrey and John Isner have the stuff to become top 10ers, to hoist trophies on the final Sunday of a Slam, is open to debate. The hard-serving Isner showed heart in his Wimbledon saga, and for a 6-foot-9 big man, he’s a capable mover and volleyer. Whether or not his body can hold up over seven matches and 14 days is another matter. Querrey pocketed four titles last year, outpacing Andy Murray to win his second straight L.A. crown, but he showed some mental fragility at Roland Garros, even admitting to tanking points. Who knows, the future of American tennis may just lie in a pair of 18-year-olds – Louisianan Ryan Harrison, who last year upset Ivan Ljubicic to reach the second round of the U.S. Open; and Nebraskan Jack Sock, who won the U.S. Open Junior title.
7 Can Caroline Wozniacki maintain her competitive edge? Or will the Slamless No. 1 go the way of Dinara Safina and Jelena Jankovic?
There are those who just aren’t ready to accept Caroline Wozniacki’s rise to No. 1. How can she be the real thing if she has yet to win a Slam? And if Serena had been able to play a full year, would the powerballing Dane have ascended to the top spot? Her consistent play (which included a sparkling 62-17 record and a WTA-best six titles) isn’t convincing enough to some who’ve grown tired of Slamless No. 1s who rise one day, then fade the next. Safina and Jankovic each had stints at No. 1 without having won a major. But we’ve seen this before. Hall-of-Famers-to-be Amelie Mauresmo and Kim Clijsters each reached No. 1 before getting over the Slam hump. You can’t blame Wozniacki. She can’t control who’s healthy. At 20, The Wizard of Woz has plenty of time to take the next step. “I don’t set any deadlines,” she said. “You feel pressure when you’re in a spot where you don’t feel you belong. I feel like I belong where I am.”
8 In bagging her third U.S. Open title, Kim Clijsters cemented her legacy as one of the greatest hard-courters of all time. But does the fire still burn for the baddest mommy on tour?
It’s hard to believe that Clijsters was winless in her first four appearances in a Slam final. The Belgian basher has sure made up for those lost opportunities. Now in her self-dubbed “second career” (she was off the tour for nearly two years), she’s far more confident when it’s all on the line. But we’re always left with the feeling that, for Kim, embracing Slam hardware doesn’t hold a candle to embracing her daughter, Jada. And rightly so. Grounded, graceful and gracious, Clijsters doesn’t worry about money or points the way she did when she first broke in on tour, and the knowing, what-me-worry? calm that comes with that has made her more effective than ever. As she showed during her 6-2, 6-1 trouncing of Vera Zvonareva in the Flushing final last year, at 27, she’s as fit and fast as ever. Should she stay healthy, a third straight U.S. Open title might just be in the making. And wouldn’t that be a mother of a win?
9 Speaking of second-career Belgians, Justine Henin stormed back onto the tour to reach the Aussie final, but later stalled with a potential career-ending injury. Can she overcome yet more hardship?
Having found some semblance of peace in her life, the seven-time Slam champ came out of a retirement last year and seamlessly picked up where she left off, going 32-8 in the first half of the season. But she was forced to withdraw from all post-Wimbledon events with an elbow injury. Her from-nowhere-to-No. 12 rise was admirable considering that doctors gave her a 50-50 chance of ever playing again. She now insists she’s highly motivated, but admits she’s still seeking some answers. “I would say I’m not 100 percent,” said Henin. “When you’ve had a break, you come back with a lot of questions and a lot of doubts, and I’m quite an anxious person. My nature is not to be really confident. Even when I was No. 1 — winning everything —every time I was walking on the court I had so many questions.”
10 Will a British guy finally win Wimbledon?
The Guardian’s Tim Dowling once quipped, “Everyone likes winning, but, in the end, Britons like losing more than they like tennis.” But the patience of any sports-mad nation — even one that at times seems to revel more in its shortcomings than its triumphs — has its limits. Seventy-five years is enough. Timmy couldn’t do it. But Andy Murray has a legitimate shot at putting an end to The Curse of Fred Perry. The Scot may be most comfortable on the Ashe Stadium asphalt (he reached the ’08 final), away from all the nation-on-your-shoulders pressure, but as his back-to-back semifinal showings illustrate, he’s close to realizing his Wimbledon dream. The more than adept mover and ballstriker scored a pair of wins over both Federer and Nadal last year, and if he steers clear of his tendency to downshift into a passive mode, glory on the grass might be his in ’11.
