A rose by any other name…? – By: Craig Cignarelli

Written by: Staff on 31st August 2012

A rose by any other name...? - By: Craig Cignarelli

epa03374473 Ryan Harrison of the US hits a return to Benjamin Becker of Germany during their match on the third day of the 2012 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 29 August 2012. The US Open runs through Sunday 09 September 2012. EPA/JOHN G. MABANGLO |

I sadly predict no American males will make the second of our homegrown US OPEN. Secretly, I’m rooting for Ryan Harrison to break through, but it’s more of a headline thing than favoritism. Think about it. There’s just too much fodder for an already anti-tennis media – “Hey tennis fans, America’s fate rests upon a sweaty Sock, an old Fish, and a big Johnson!”

I already spend too much time defending our sport. The last thing we need is the ESPN wise guys or the AP’s mockery-loving midnight crew throwing darts at some wheel of tomfoolery in order to peddle a few more papers.

Oh sure, deep inside I’m a big fan of Stevie and Jack and Mardy. But that’s not the point. Right now, as American tennis falters before the eye of the world, as Ten-and-Under-Tennis stalls on the starting gate, as more and more big names end with –ic and –ova, we need a brand. Ryan has a lot of tools and more than a little heart. Would it be so bad to hear “Harrison crashes through the first weekend and hits the round of 16.

Please, Ryan, get there first. Save us from the misery and mockery. Protect us from clever witticism. And please, for goodness sake, don’t do anything that might tarnish your ‘very stalwart” name.

Topics: American Tennis, John Isner, Mardy Fish, Ryan Harrison, US Open