Tomorrow marks the beginning of tennis season.
Tomorrow at around 1:30 PM central-standard time two up-and-coming superstars in the field of tennis will take to the courts on the corner of Jenkins Avenus and Timberdell Drive to begin a grueling season of tennis. Some of you may be asking "who are these up-and- comers you speak of, i get Tennis Monthly ten times a year and I'm pretty tuned in to the happenings of tennis." Well my tennis loving friends let me introduce you to them.
Derek Rundgren
Derek was born in the suburbs of Chicago. The son of an opera singer and an architect he immediately took a liking to tennis. At the age of seven he won the Prospect Heights junior invitational tournament in Prospect Heights, IL. He then took the momentum of this victory and began to dominate the northeastern juniors (3-7 years old) tennis division in Illinois. At the age of eight he was thrust into a state of tennis limbo. Too old for the juniors and a bit too young for the next level he was forced to stay focused and train without the presence of the competition he so desired. It was during one of these training sessions that tragedy struck. On a perfectly sunny day in 1991, Derek was struck by a bolt of lightning mid-serve. The eletric shock did not kill or even injure Derek. What it did was much, much worse. It made Derek lose all of his tennis skill. The next time he went out to the courts he couldn't even consistently hit the ball. He was laughed off the local courts and never picked up a tennis racquet again. That is until now. Lured out of retirement by the invitation to play someone of the same heightened skill as himself, Derek is seeking a new brand of victory.
"I want to get it back...the glory, the love I had for the sport...I want it all back."
-Derek Rundgren (from Little Known Junior Tennis Superstars Magazine, 2004)
Andrews Cope
Andrews Welborn Cope was born in Plano, TX to a family who loves him much but expects greatness more. Andrews prefers the name of Andy. Andy's second language: English. Andy's first language: TENNIS. Serve, lob, slam, dive, love, ace. This is the language that defines Andy's life. Every day Andy serves balls until he cries from the knowledge that he has raped the soul of that fuzzy yellow being. But it's the only way. It's the only way. His talent: unrivaled. His technique: flawless. His drive: unhuman. His thirst: unquenchable. He's been called the General Sherman of the tennis war. Andy doesn't just defeat. He destroys, he destroys again, he destroys more. He destroys until his opponent collapses and then Andy sets the court on fire. I'm serious. This dude's an arsonist. It's not cool, but it really is. The flames are an adequate representation (if you had to pick something) of Andy. They're hot as Andy is hot. They burn as Andy burns. They dance as Andy dance. And they hate water as Andy hates water. Andy hasn't bathed in 19 months since he last lost. He bathed before that match and lost and so, for fear of losing, he refuses to bathe as it: "extinguishes (his) game, bitch."
"Look - - cobras strike. Employees strike. Batters strike out. And you strike matches on flint to get fire. Well, baby, the court is the flint and I'm the match and I've got lots of head. Burn, burn."
-Andrews "Andy" Cope (Gigantic RACKets: The Tennis Players Choice of Smut, 2004)
Tomorrow the tennis season begins! | 
