American women's tennis down

You don't realize how dysfunctional American women's tennis has become at the top level until this country sends a team to Russia to compete in the Fed Cup semifinals that includes a singles alignment of Vania King and Ahsha Rolle, plus an imported Liezel Huber for doubles.

Huber is a great doubles player. In fact, she might be the best doubles player in the world, considering her No. 1 ranking.

But Liezel Huber, even though she now resides in Houston, has spent the majority of her 31 years as a South African.

King and Rolle, who are ranked only No. 112 and 138 in the world respectively, received wild cards into the Family Circle Cup main draw where both lost in the first round.

Yes, American women's tennis has dropped this far. Of course, Venus Williams and Lindsay Davenport have been out for medical reasons, and Serena Williams didn't jump on the first flight out of Charleston headed toward Moscow with her $196,900 check from winning the Family Circle Cup. So, captain Zina Garrison had to go with King and Rolle.

And yet, the Russians came up with Svetlana Kuznetsova and Anna Chakvetadze for singles, along with Family Circle runner-up Vera Zvonareva for doubles. Kuznetsova and Chakvetadze both won their opening singles matches against the Americans on Saturday.

This really should be a little embarrassing to American tennis. But playing in Charleston one week and then heading directly for Moscow is a pretty difficult assignment.

Yet, the task apparently didn't stop the Russians. If we can't do better than this, maybe we should skip the Fed Cup competition.

And we thought the players were inconsiderate of Family Circle Cup ticketholders in 2007? What about the Russian fans? They're paying to see basically a "B" or "C" team from the United States.

Roger the retirer

Another retirement against Roger Federer?

Last Sunday, it was Nikolay Davydenko retiring against Federer in the Portugal final. And Saturday, it was Novak Djokovic in the Monte Carlo semifinals.

Roger is supposed to be the one on the recovery from mononucleosis.

Don't expect Rafael Nadal to retire against Federer in today's Monte Carlo final. Since he's come this far, Rafael probably is determined to become only the second player to win both singles and doubles titles in the same Masters event. Nadal and fellow Spaniard Tommy Rebredo rallied from a set down to win in Saturday's doubles semifinals.

And what has happened to Davydenko? He sparkles in Miami against Nadal, but then retires against Federer in Portugal and now Nadal hammers the Russian, 6-3, 6-2, at Montre Carlo.

SCISA puzzle

Porter-Gaud coach Tom Higgins is trying to figure out how SCISA comes up with its pairings for the Class AAA state boys' playoffs. The Cyclones split a pair of regular-season matches against defending state champion Pinewood Prep and own a 13-1 record, yet they are seeded second in the lower bracket behind 2007 state runner-up Hilton Head Prep.

The seeding might not sound like a big deal, but it is. If Porter-Gaud wins its 4 p.m. Monday home playoff match against No. 3 seed Thomas Sumter -— and Hilton Head Prep wins a Wednesday match against No. 4 Heathwood Hall or No. 5 Wilson Hall —- the Cyclones would then face Hilton Head Prep on Friday. The key is that the match would be played at Hilton Head Island on clay.

The winner of the Friday match will advance to the state final on May 5, probably against Pinewood Prep, which owns a 14-3 record and is the top seed in the upper bracket. Pinewood faces No. 4 seed St. Joseph's of Aiken at the Pinewood courts on Wednesday at 4 p.m. Both Hammond and Heathwood Hall have beaten St. Joseph's, while both have lost to Pinewood. Pinewood Prep suffered two losses to High School League Class AA power Bishop England.

Bishops get preview

Bishop England will get a sneak preview of the Class AA state playoffs on Tuesday when the Bishops travel to Litchfield Beach to face perenniel power Waccamaw. Bishop England and Waccamaw likely also will meet in the state semifinals on May 7, but that match should be played on Daniel Island since the Bishops have the home-court edge throughout the playoffs, starting with a Thursday encounter with Williston-Elko.

Reach James Beck at 937-5540 or jdbeck@postandcourier.com.