Australian Open

Many people are rooting for Martina Hingis in her comeback attempt at the 2006 Australian Open and she has done nothing to dimish the hopes of her supporters, but the fact that she has won her first 2 matches easily and appears headed for a quarter final match with Kim Clisters says a great deal about women's tennis.

It sucks.

After the top 10 players (and even that number may be inflated) there really is no player who can realistically contend for the championship of a major event and, as a result, early round matches on the women's side produce few competitive battles. This is a serious problem for the WTA whicvh charges a great deal of money to see early round matches, only to have the spectators witness more blowouts than a New Orleans hurricane. Perhaps the cost of attending these matches should be reduced.

Last year in Toronto, the women put on a terrible show of tennis, likely to have a negative result on future crowds at the event. The men, on the other hand, are very competitive and it results in many upsets in early rounds (see Lleyton Hewitt at this year's Australian Open)

I'd pay any day for a men's match, but you'd have to pay me to see a first round in any women's tournament.