Why, after having whipped through enjoyable blog series' during Wimbledon and the French Open , am I so unexcited about the advent of America's own Grand Slam?

The US Open started Sunday night to the soundtrack of Aretha Franklin, as Venus and Serena took center stage at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows, and I chose to watch a rerun of a Schalke-Nuremburg match on GolTV. The trouble is I don't really like hard court tennis unless Andre Agassi is playing Pete Sampras. I don't mean I wouldn't watch another Nadal-Federer final, but you kind of get the feeling that those two are happy to split the kingdom, what with them co-chartering planes around the world and being so luvvy-duvvy between the net posts. Even if they aren't settled on power-sharing, the US Open is a neutral site for the rivalry, incapable of deciding the tie. I would much rather see Don Rafa and R Fed battle on a more natural surface. Something in a light green or a terra cotta.