Andy Roddick is BACK in the '09 Wimbledon Finals

Do you have any idea how long I have been waiting for Andy Roddick to make it to the Wimbledon Finals?

Do you have any idea how many times he has disappointed me? Probably not, I suppose, but just try to look at it from my point of view...

My infatuation with Andy Roddick began back in my high-school days, way back when Brontosaurus and Tyrannosaurus-Rex were roaming the Earth. I had been playing tennis, both for pleasure and in competition since the third grade. I guess it has at least a little to do with the fact that I was born Asian and we just happen to love the game of tennis.

At least in America we do.

For some reason, just like soccer, cricket, and rugby, tennis is a sport that's a huge deal for just about every other country besides the United States. The Russians absolutely SWEAR by tennis, especially their women, which can be seen in such famous players as Martina Navratilova, Anna Kournikova and  Maria Sharapova.

I only mentioned the latter two because they are smoking hot and their influence extends beyond just the sport they play. As for Martina, well, she's just one of the best women to have ever played the game, hand's down.

The majority of Asia, Europe and even the Middle East/Africa play tennis at a high level as well. Tennis games are a big deal throughout the year in these countries, rather then just when the grand slam tournaments are on.

In America, sure there are a lot of players, especially in high school or at rich, uppity country clubs, but for the most part America has not consistently ranked very high at the professional level... with only a few exceptions.

The major difference is that when you look at the top 25 players in the world, both men and women, over the past couple decades it seems to have been primarily comprised of Russian and Eastern European names.

So basically, since a very young age, I had very few American role-models to look up too in terms of tennis. I can basically count all of them on one hand and I'm talking both sexes combined.

The Williams sisters, I believe, are monstrous, brutal and perhaps the perfect specimens from which elite tennis playing females should be cloned. Have you seen their sheer muscle definition or the power in their serves? This duo of destruction has rampaged through the professional tennis scene for over a decade now.

John McEnroe, who probably wouldn't be a role model for most other people but because of my own short fuse and natural god-given talent for tennis, was the first professional tennis player I ever heard of. He's also one of the most evil people on the planet in my opinion and as far as I'm concerned, a great man.

Andre Agassi, with or without hair, had the most will power and heart I have ever seen in tennis, at any playing level. He won sets and tournaments that he probably had no right to win, against players in their prime much younger and stronger then him.

Throughout the '90s and even past the turn of the century, Agassi proved that wisdom and heart will always be a match for strength and speed. Oh yeah, he was also married to one of the most beautiful white women I have ever seen... Brooke Shields.

(Well, when she was younger at least. Now she had all that plastic surgery and her head is bigger and her features all blunt and blocky...Blechkkk.)

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