Okay, so professional tennis isn't really the most viewer-friendly sport out there.

There's no physical contact, the matches tend to drag on for a while, and the vast majority of the good players nowadays have names even longer than the matches themselves.

I've got to admit, as an avid tennis player and follower, the U.S. Open just doesn't seem to produce quite as many show-stopping performances as it used to.

But if you like the sport in any fashion and you haven't been watching ESPN2 over the past few weeks, you've been missing out.

The Australian Open has historically managed to produce some terrific matches. This time around, while there haven't necessarily been any battles for the ages, the storylines have been enough to engage the late-night viewer.

First, the year's opening Slam has always led to sky-high expectations and even higher media coverage on the likes of Lleyton Hewitt, the face of Australian sports and the country's only true tennis star.

Hewitt, just to offer a close-to-home comparison, has been called the "Brad Pitt of Australia," with his widespread fame and gorgeous wife/soap opera actress, Bec Cartwright. Strangely, Cartwright even holds a striking resemblance to Angelina Jolie.

Anyway, you can imagine the country's disappointment when Hewitt bowed out in the second round to Juan Ignacio Chela, furthering the Aussie's title drought at his home Slam.

But it's only a matter of time before the explosive 2001 U.S. Open and 2002 Wimbledon winner exorcises his demons and gives his fans a championship tournament to remember.

Another fascinating story was the renaissance of former world number one Martina Hingis. The Swiss star has won five singles Grand Slam titles, including three at the Aussie Open — during a streak of six consecutive years in the finals — on top of nine doubles championships. Hingis was touted as perhaps becoming the greatest player of all-time, even better than her namesake, Martina Navratilova.

But all this happened before her 22nd birthday, and it all came and went before 2002 even got started. Now she returns to a women's game that has evolved into a powerful game, which contrasts Hingis' style of finesse and pinpoint shotmaking.

There were many tennis analysts who were quick to denounce the comeback, taking the aforementioned point and using it to predict frustration in Hingis' future.

But after her impressive quarterfinal showing, potential championships are in talks for Hingis' future. She knocked off the No. 30-seeded Vera Zvonareva among others en route to the round of eight, where she gave reigning US Open champion Kim Clijsters a serious run for her money.

What's more, she also paired with Indian player Mahesh Bhupathi to take down the second-seeded duo of Jonas Bjorkman and Lisa Raymond in the mixed doubles event. Bhupathi and Hingis currently sit in the quarterfinals of that draw.

Certainly, there is much excitement to see what the versatile 25-year-old can achieve — in singles, doubles and mixed doubles — over the next few years.

Finally, there was the disappearing act put on by the Americans during the first week. A pair of American upstarts, Taylor Dent and Robby Ginepri, combined for precisely one win, the Williams sisters went home early (again), and Andre Agassi failed to make the tourney due to injury.

The only two singles players in red, white and blue who survived to see the second week would be Lindsay Davenport, the women's top seed, and Andy Roddick, the men's second seed. While Davenport managed a run to the quarters and Roddick reached the fourth round, it's hard to call it a successful fortnight for either player, seeing as they were each projected to play in their draw's championship match.

There were only two real American accomplishments. The first comes from a widely-unknown, yet extremely talented set of twins by the names of Bob and Mike Bryan, the USA Davis Cup doubles team. They've won two Grand Slam titles, but failed to cash in on either of their trips to the Australian final in '04 and '05. Well, they're back in the championship match, and will try to make their third time a charm on Saturday.

The other achievement — well, it didn't exactly happen on-court. As a matter of fact, it might well be the greatest story of them all this January.

There are reports of Roddick starting up a relationship with Russian hottie Maria Sharapova, who just made the final of the women's draw with her victory over Justine Henin-Hardenne.

Andy, if the reports are true, I'll be more proud of you than for any tournament you ever win. Well done, man. Well done.