After their interesting comments, I decided that I had to have some sort of revenge. At first, I considered challenging Ms. Porter to boxing, fencing or skiing, but I decided against those sports. I knew that I could not have any satisfaction unless I beat her in tennis--except this time, we would play doubles.

My first impulse was to put an ad in the Houston Chronicle for a top-notch doubles partner, but that wouldn't have been fair. And since Ivan Lendl and Boris Becker didn't return my calls, I settled on one of my old friends.

John Smith and I decided that if we lost to LaShawn and Kim Starks, we would challenge them to sumo wrestling. LaShawn and Kim went on to win a tough, hard-fought match, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.

John and I are currently learning the art of sumo-wrestling. In a few short months we should be able to beat them.

On the whole male-female issue, I don't think Martina Navratilova could beat Ivan Lendl, nor Steffi Graff defeat John McEnroe. That is to be expected, with the strength advantage that men normally possess over women.

But I don't believe in the male chauvenistic mentality that says females can't beat males in tennis, or in most sports. I know they can--I learned the hard way.