Minnesota tennis legend David Wheaton likes Roger Federer or Andy Roddick to win the men’s singles at the US Open in New York. The women’s winner? “It’s very hard to pick (someone) this year,” he answered.
With Andre Agassi retiring, Anna Kournikova fading from the scene and John McEnroe long past his prime, who has star power in the sport that still misses the marketing appeal of Jimmy Connors, Bjorn Borg, McEnroe and Billie Jean King? “Rafael Nadal has a lot of cache in him,” Wheaton said. “He brings a lot of energy. On the women’s side, (Maria) Sharapova.”
In 1990 Wheaton lost in the US Open singles quarterfinals to McEnroe, his best showing ever at America’s Grand Slam. In recent years he has been playing in the 35 and over doubles at the Open but is no longer eligible because of a new rule limiting participation to players who once were champions or runner-ups in Grand Slam events. Wheaton, 37, and partner T.J. Middleton won the 35 and over doubles championship at Wimbledon in 2004 and finished second the last two years.
A devout Christian, the Tonka Bay resident is the author of the book “University of Destruction.” He writes about the “three pillars of peril students face in college: sex, drugs/alcohol, and humanism (secular or religious).”