Welcome to the other side

By Tom Kosinski Sports Central Columnist

"Poor" Anna Kournikova. Long-known as the Susan Lucci of professional tennis, she still has no singles tournament titles to her name. A professional since she was 14, Anna has been a top-10 player, made it to the semis and finals of many tournaments, including Wimbledon, and even has won a handful of grand slam doubles titles.

To be fair, she has spent the better part of the past two years battling a quirky foot fracture and has been slow to recover. She has followed the WTA Tour, making personal appearances despite not being in the draws. She's been a trooper, so you can't fault her there.

Last week, Kournikova began comeback number four with an entrance into one of the Challenger tournaments, the minor leagues of professional tennis. She withdrew from the Cloisters Cup last week, but was the number one seed for this week's Boyd Tinsley $25,000 USTA Women's Tennis Championships at The Boar's Head Sports Club in Charlottesville, Virginia. If you are like me, you are thinking that maybe she just might get her first title. Yeah, a little cheap, but its still a pro title.

Well, Kournikova continues to be the best women's player never to win a singles tournament. She committed 15 double-faults, never managed to hold serve in the entire final set, and left the tournament a 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-4 loser to little Bruna Colosio, the world's 384th-ranked woman. This one is just crazy. In her sleep, with one leg and one arm, Anna K. should be able to run through draws like this. Well, she didn't. Good thing she still has her looks, is single again (bye, bye, Sergei) and just got the coveted cover spot on the new video game "Topspin Tennis."

I feel for Kournikova, but if she doesn't start doing better soon, there is a sleeping giant named Ashley Harkleroad waiting to take over her lucrative endorsements. Harkleroad is a beautiful as Kournikovaa, and more talented. Harkleroad even already has a singles title to her credit. And she just turned 18, so now she can play a full tour schedule. Lookout, my little Russian star, there's a new "American Idol" in town...

As for Pistol Pete, I don't get it. You read it here last year, I predicted Sampras was going to call it quits at Wimbledon, but he didn't. Then he won the U.S. Open and took the rest of the year off, to spend more time at home and prep for the birth of his new son. I stated numerous times that my sources told me Sampras was going to hang it up, and I even begged him to.

Well, looks like time is on my side. He asked for wildcards into several European clay court tournaments, and has withdrawn from all of them. He was scheduled to play on grass in Birmingham, but just yesterday told a reporter that he would not be playing there or Wimbledon.

Sampras switched racquets, which may be part of the issue. I doubt it, though, as the new Pro Staff Tour 90 is a clone of the old Pro Staff 6.0 he used, only with a 90-square-inch head. He has been reported to be out of shape and not back in "tour form," and that may be a factor. I'll doubt that, too, as his serve and volley win points in relatively quickly style which would allow him to play at a very high-level even if he was 30 pounds overweight.

I think Sampras has just found that fatherhood, his new tennis academy, and a weekly show on the new Tennis Channel may be more to his liking at his age. Hell, he's got nothing to prove, except on clay and that ain't happening this year. Look for Sampras to tease us up till the U.S. Open and announce his retirement during this year's tournament.

Maybe the most bizarro event so far this spring is the USTA $50,000 Challenger tournament going on at Forest Hills. Forest Hills was the site of the U.S. Open from the early 1920s through to the end of the 1970s. When the USTA moved the tournament to the National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, the West Side Tennis Club retreated back into the all-white tennis wear club world it had been at its establishment. While relations between the USTA and the West Side Tennis Club have been strained for years over the move, the club jumped at a chance to host the challenger.

This year's draw includes American hopeful Alex Kim, Jersey native Justin Gimelstob, and ageless and graceful champ Michael Chang. Each is using the Har-Tru clay surface as a warm-up for the French Open, which begins in earnest at the end of the month. What makes it so bizarre is the relatively high-rankings of the players (those three alone are in the top-100 in the world) for such a small tournament, and that the surface is nothing like the deep, red, slow clay of Europe. Oh, and Chang was bounced by Tripp Phillips. (Who?)

Before I go, I wanted to let you all know of two great developments on the tennis scene. Pro Kennex has introduced the "Pro Special Edition" series of racquets. Based on their hugely-popular Kinetic line, Kennex now offers off-the-shelf racquets in 13 oz. editions. The Kinetic Pro 5G PSE is the "players" stick. It is a great stick, with its 100-square-inch head, kinetic technology which eases vibration and shock to the arm, and now a hefty 13 oz. when it come off the shelf. Most racquets today weigh 10-11 oz when strung, so you can see it's quite weighty.

I add about two ounces to my frames now so that would make it the same as my modified racquets. In a world where the trend is lighter, Kennex is bucking the trend (successfully) and going back to a more stable weighted frame. Hackers and beginners should not be afraid to try the 5G PSE, as while it may feel much heavier in your hand, it is highly-maneuverable and a heavier racquet will generate much more power with much less force.

Volkl has also introduced a mid-season racquet line, the Catapult V1 Mid-Plus and Oversize. Based on the most popular selling frame in Europe, the Cat V1 takes the best features of the Volkl V1 Classic and adds the revolutionary Catapult spring technology. The racquet has only been available for about a month in the U.S., and already its flying out of the pro shops.

Maybe its best advertisement is pro player Felix Mantilla. Mantilla switched to the Catapult V1 MP just a few weeks ago and just won the Italian Open, one of the Masters Series of the ATP tour. It is the biggest win for Mantilla ever, and in several interviews, he applauds the new racquet for giving him more power with better control. You can get all the specs on the Volkl web site, but let's just say that this racquet may be the most versatile frame to date, and it plays as well in the beginner's hands as it does in the professional's hands. Look for more players to switch to it and other Catapult series racquets soon.

Okay, that's it for now. With the tennis season heating up, I'll be back here more often to update you on the latest on the tour, in the locker room, and on the street. Until then, may you hit only winners...

Article courtesy of Sports Central.