One of the biggest reasons I love tennis is its global reach – all those hard-to-pronounce names with all that history behind them. Tiny little countries like Slovakia with many players in the top 20, both on the men’s and women’s side. And Croatia – which just exists for the first time now as a country – with lots of top names as well.
Indians and Pakistanis playing together. Arabs and Israelis playing doubles – and winning. Brits and Morroccans and Mongolians, oh my!
It’s not just a game between England and America any more. A Swiss at the top of the men’s game, a Spaniard second, Argentinians and Slovakians, and 2 Americans (Blake and Roddick) in the top 10. No Brits there, but Andy Murray, a Scot, is coming up fast.
And I’ll get to see them all when they come to the Masters out near Kings Island, starting August 10!