My Tennis Xmas Wish List

Trivia Question: What string tensions are best when playing on a platform 1,000 yards above the city?

San Francisco --

Dear friends,

In keeping with my year-end tradition, I am going to make another foray into the out-of-the-ordinary year-end list. Except that it's not a list as much as it is not a list.

Ahem...

As Xmas approaches I realize I am not in want of anything more than what I already have -- great friends, great loves, and most of all, great tennis.

It is only during times like these, when the world sits still in repose, that we get to truly contemplate the immense beauty of it all. When the arc of the game rests and the rankings don't change, we can look back at the year that was and feel a glow. We can miss it and also be happy it's gone so we can catch up on what it all meant.

Tennis Xmas List, 2010

1. Nobody Break the longest match record next year: Okay, I'm going to start with one I know I can have. Think about how duped we'd all feel if somebody broke the record we know will never fall. Plus, I don't know if I could take another one so soon.

2. USTA, say you are not touching Grandstand: I don't understand. If the U.S. Open was in San Francisco you'd have bands of protesters running around the grounds of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center with signs, and laying in front of the gates to the legendary Grandstand.

This is just too sad for me to deal with. It is (or should I say, was?), in my opinion, the best place to watch tennis in the U.S.

3. Advise umpires to overrule less: This has always been one of my pet peeves. There are other and better ways to control the integrity of a match.

4. A virtual unknown Slam winner, please: I love excitement, and what better way to get excited about tennis than to see a new fresh face burst on to the scene? Nothing against the unbelievable prowess with which Rafa and Roger have lorded over the competition, but true shockers are always welcome vs. what has become the status quo.

5. A wildcard to the U.S. Open qualies: Judging from the improvements in my forehand in the last few weeks, I can't find any reason not to think I could be the next Blake Strode (except that I'm delusional).