2000 began with the hope of a new millennium, and with it, some drastic changes to the men's game.

The ATP rolled out a new season points system with hopes that it would make things more understandable and help drive new interest in the game. Well, it was one for two. No doubt the point system was much more user friendly. With each season now beginning at zero for everyone, the rankings did reflect the true accomplishments of each ATP player.

"Guga" Kuerten of Brazil finished the season at number one, with 839 points, Marat Safin at two with 824, and Pete Sampras at three with 677 points. All three reached the semis of the year end Masters Series Championship, and Guga's win sealed the deal and propelled him past Safin for the season ending number one ranking. Along with the season ending championship, Guga had a tremendous clay season, culminating with his second French Open victory (over Swede Magnus Norman).

Norman finished fourth in the standings, bolstered by an incredibly consistent season and an early clay court run in Europe.

Marat Safin rode to the number three ranking with a great summer hard court run and his first grand slam victory at the U.S. Open.

The top ten was rounded out by Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Andre Agassi, Lleyton Hewitt, Alex Corretja, Thomas Enqvist, and British favorite, Tim Henman. Kafelnikov failed to win a slam, but did walk away with an Olympic gold medal. Kafelnikov came up just short at the Australian Open, and didn't really find a groove until late into the indoor season.

Agassi managed to take another Australian Open, and looked to be a major force all year. Agassi unfortunately did not win another tour event the rest of the year, mostly due to injury and a new love relationship with Steffi Graf which seemed to take his mind off of tennis again.

Meanwhile, Corretja continued his consistent play on all surfaces, and had one of his best clay showings of his career. Corretja ended the season on a high note as a member of the Davis Cup winning Spanish team.

The ATP seemed to miss its goals for promoting the sport and gaining new interest. Television ratings of all men's tennis was down, despite the aggressive marketing campaign and the introduction of players such as Guga, Marcelo Rios, Lleyton Hewitt, and model stud Safin to the American viewing audience.

Pete Sampras' record-breaking thirteenth grand slam Wimbledon win was the lone bright spot (especially with the U.S. audience) and it left the ATP looking for more answers.

However, the emergence of Kuerten-Safin may prove to be the antidote men's tennis is looking for. Lleyton Hewitt became a household name. The fiery 19-year-old Aussie dominated the Australian Hardcourt season and looked like a sure contender for the Aussie Open crown, but fell just short. Hewitt ruled on slow hard courts and his powerful baseline game took him to the year ending championships. Hewitt and fellow ATP Aussies Patrick Rafter and Sandon Stolle fell in the final of the Davis Cup, giving Spain its first-ever Cup win.

The rankings and money earnings on the men's side were consistent, with Kuerten the leading money winner, followed by the rest of the top nine. Kafelnikov came in second in prize money, demonstrating that consistently high levels of tennis play can pay off, despite not winning one of the big four. Even Franco Squillari, a virtual unknown and number twenty money winner, finished with over $750,000 in winnings.

On the other hand, doubles continued to be a problem for both the ATP and WTA tours, although much lesser for the women. The lack of big name players like Agassi, Sampras, Kuerten, and Safin playing doubles took viewership to new lows. Only future Hall-of-Famers Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge gave us anything to watch, again finishing the season at number one. No offense intended Leander Paes or Mahesh Bupahti, but doubles in 2000 was nothing like its heyday in the late '60s or early '70s. Mark Woodforde "retired" at Wimbledon, leaving the doubles ranks void of a marketable name, although we were lucky to see him "un-retire" for the Davis Cup final against Spain. Tennis will miss the Woodies, and this Woodie in particular. Good luck and best wishes, Mark!

Fortunately, the women's side was luckier. Both Martina Hingis and Anna Kournikova were consistent doubles players, and spent the majority of the season as partners. Venus and Serena played together at the slams and took home the Wimbledon women's doubles crown. Lisa Raymond even managed to draw a little attention, as she was spurned by the U.S.T.A. and U.S. Olympic committee and left off the U.S. team, despite being the number one ranked women's doubles player at the time and clearly the best U.S. doubles player, period.

Raymond was passed over so that Venus and Serena could play together as the U.S.T.A. succumbed to the pressure of the Williams sisters. Venus had hinted that if Serena was left off the team, she might not compete in Sydney for the U.S. Yes, the Williams sisters took gold, but at the expense of Raymond, a loyal patriot and a long-time U.S. Fed Cup player. The final word on this has not yet been said.

The women's game gained great strides. Viewership was up, especially in the U.S. Most of this can be accounted for by the great marketing the WTA has undertaken, and the rest with the exceptional play of Lindsay Davenport, Martina Hingis, Venus Williams, Serena Williams, and Anna Kournikova. Women's tennis is now at a level similar to men's tennis in the late 1970's and has the rivalries to boot.

Venus Williams dominated the second half of the season, winning Wimbledon and the U.S. Open and becoming the first African-American women to win at the Big W since the great Althea Gibson in 1958. Venus also finished third in the season rankings, despite not playing until June because of injuries. Despite only playing in nine tournaments. Williams missed the season-ending Chase Championships, so who knows if she could have finished higher?

Hingis finished at number one without winning a grand slam. Hingis remained the quickest and smartest player on the tour and was able to parlay her consistent play to the top ranking and also the top money-winning slot. Hingis won more money than all but three players in professional tennis, coming in ahead of men's number four Thomas Enqvist by almost a million dollars.

While this may seem to show that there is now parity in prize money between the two sexes, this was sadly not the case. Hingis has been leading the charge and the WTA players have threatened a boycott of all tournaments with both men's and women's draws that don't have equal prize money. Basically that means that there is the potential of a boycott in 2001 of at least two grand slams by the top women players. The disparity is really evident when you look at number fifty Nicole Pratt of Australia who grossed only $191,309 to number fifty Richard Krajicek's $410,641. Pratt played in twenty-five tournaments, where Krajicek played in about only half that.

Hingis and Davenport spent most of the year battling for the number one spot. They met in finals six times, including a huge triumph by Lindsay at the Australian Open, spitting them evenly. Monica Seles and Jennifer Capriati made great comebacks in 2000. Seles finished the year fourth and was a finalist at the Chase Championships. Sadly, it was the last Chase at Madison Square Garden and apparently the last for Seles. Seles refuses to play in Germany (we all know why and respect her for it) and the Chase will be moving to Stuttgart next year. Hingis took the Chase and earned the final number one for the year. Davenport dropped out early, losing to new-comer Elena Dementieva.

Dementieva also made headlines at the Olympics, making it to the finals, where she was beaten by Williams. Dementieva is the best of a number of rising Russian women's players and her good looks are already drawing comparisons to Anna Kournikova.

Speaking of Kournikova, the bombshell remained win-less on the professional tour, despite a great run in the fall and a great final versus Hingis at home in the Kremlin Cup. Kournikova remained the biggest draw in tennis and her tennis improved leaps and bounds during the 2000 season. Kournikova finished the season eight in singles and fourth in doubles and with Hingis was one of only two top ten singles players to finish in the top ten in both categories.

Mary Pierce had a strong clay court season and managed to take home the crown of her adopted country in the French Open. Pierce faded toward the end of the year and had to drop out of the Chase (hey Robby Alomar, let our girl get some sleep!). Capriati had an incredible run during the summer and fall hard court tournaments and climbed to number fourteen for the year end. Capriati played consistently for the first time in years and showed that she still has some of the great potential she came to the game with at the tender age of 14. 2001 could be a great year for her, if things continue as is.

The women's top ten was rounded out by the usual suspects, with veterans Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario and Nathalie Tauziat in the nine and ten slots. The women's game was elevated to new heights with the rise of Amelie Mauresmo, teen sensation Kim Clijsters and Elena Likhovtseva. Chanda Rubin made a great showing as well, landing at season's end at number thirteen.

Sadly, the WTA said goodbye to two of its more popular players, Dominique Van Roost and Julie Halard-Decugis. Both were honored at the year-end Chase Championships.

Before I go, I wanted to touch on what may be the most defining moment of the year: the rise and fall of John McEnroe as Davis Cup captain. No player before or since had the heart and soul for U.S. tennis. McEnroe's appointment to the captaincy just a year ago seemed to be a perfect choice. Alas, Johnny Mac could not galvanize the top American players nor could he instill his great patriotism in them. McEnroe's failure to do so led to an early exit from the Cup and to McEnroe's hasty resignation from the helm.

McEnroe has always been the epitome of what is both great and bad in tennis and he unfortunately stepped into a situation which was no different. Tennis was the loser, not McEnroe. McEnroe truly embodies all that is American tennis and may be the last great American tennis patriot. McEnroe's Davis Cup odyssey only made clear that money now rules the game. The games saving grace seems to now lie with the Australian pros who showed us that pride in country and the Davis Cup counts (despite their loss in the final to Spain).

The appointment just yesterday of Patrick McEnroe to take over for his older brother John will unfortunately not elevate the U.S. Davis Cup efforts. The 2000 Davis Cup run for the U.S. was in my mind a great slap in the face of one of the games greatest champions and may very well lead to the demise of U.S. Davis Cup tennis team.

Thank you all for spending your time with my opinions and writings this year. I hope you all have a great holiday season. Next time, I'll make some New Year's predictions and have my top five tennis resolutions for 2001. Until then, see you on the message boards.

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