Normally the summer months bring a distinct lull to the sports world. This is, of course, due to the dormancy of the three "N's": the NFL, NBA and NHL. Recent years have brought a growing disinterest in baseball. This summer was even bad for golf as a bunch of no names dominated the majors.

This summer I expected to be different. The Olympics were coming to Atlanta and should have been the event of the summer. However, a great first week of coverage was overshadowed by the bombing and a monotonous second week.

In spite of all of this, I always look forward to the summer, because I am part of a seemingly dying breed: the tennis fan.

For the tennis fan, the summer brings Wimbledon--the only justifiable reason to order HBO--and the U.S. Open--New York at its finest. These are the two most important events of the year and basically define the year in tennis.

Much to my surprise and dismay, Wimbledon was an absolute abomination. Pete Sampras, going for a fourth consecutive title, was ousted early in the running, at least for him. The men's final pitted Dutchman Richard Kraijcek--a big server with untapped potential--and Malavai Washington--a mediocre American.

Don't get me wrong, I like the underdog, but this wasn't exactly like the unseeded Boris Becker taking the title by storm. The women's draw was and will continue to be the Steffi Graf show. Even the criminal activities of her father have ceased to be interesting.

So the U.S. Open was really the last chance for the tennis year to come together--and it did not disappoint.

Again, the women's draw was a chance to see Graf prove herself to be the most dominating figure in the game. When she waxed Monica Seles--then co-ranked number one with Graf--7-5, 6-4, there were no questions to ask, except, who will be next?

The tournament pointed to a possible answer to this question as Martina Hingis gave Graf her toughest challenge. Hingis, who is 15 years old, appears ready to be the leader of the next generation. Her rise and the inevitable arrival of Venus Williams, another 15-year old, may bring interest back to the women's game.

The real story was the men's tournament. From the beginning it had everything a good U.S. Open should have: some controversy, an honorable farewell, an epic match, a great champion.

The U.S. Tennis Association was accused of rigging the seeding system to create an Andre Agassi vs. Pete Sampras final. One player walked out, and the threat of a boycott circulated. It wasn't exactly having Kevin Curren suggest that an atomic bomb be dropped on New York, but it did start the tourney with a bang.

The farewell was to Stefan Edberg, a past champion playing his last Grand Slam tournament. Edberg honored the game of tennis not only with the most graceful serve and volley tennis of the past decade but with his personality.

Year after year Edberg has won the season-ending Sportsmanship Award until they were forced to name it after him--before he retired. In an age where Dieon Sanders, Shaquille O'Neal and Andre Agassi are being glorified, Stefan Edberg stepped out of big-time tennis as quietly and gracefully as he came in, more the champion than either of those three could imagine.

The successor to Edberg's unassuming legacy is Pete Sampras. His story is what defined the Open.

Sampras is the best player in the world--if there were doubts before, there could be none when the tournament ended. Sampras utterly dominated the second-ranked Michael Chang in the final 6-1, 6-4, 7-6. Pete played so well, it was impossible to believe that Chang would have become number one with a victory.