There's something about tennis

Ya, ya, ya, I'm sure you're all sick of my tennis rants. But I love it. And the U.S. Open has been on for the past two weeks and as always I'm hooked. I truly love watching that ball fly back and forth across the net, the grunting, the slamming rackets and the upsets.
But I think there's something else in it that I love. (And no it's not when Andy Roddick wipes his face with his shirt showing off his abs, though I do love that)
I think it's pure athleticism at its best. In few other sports can you tell from moment to moment how a player is doing physically. You see them panting after a long point, or not running to net when they're tired, and sometimes they just get sloppy. Or you watch a player like Amelie Mauresmo jump into the air after winning a hard point, set or match, now that's an athlete.
The other thing that I love about tennis is that it's the only time that I get to be the fountain of knowledge amongst my sportsfan friends. Even the guys in the sports department have been known to cave in to my nerdy tennis knowledge.
My official picks: Sharapova and Roddick (Call me crazy, but he's playing better than ever and is on his best surface)