The Big Four

Let's face it, when a college basketball season is about to start, you check out the rosters of Duke and Carolina and then everyone else. In the baseball offseason, you look at the Red Sox and Yankees and then figure out if anyone else can contend with their rosters. In 4.5 league tennis in this section, there are really four big players: Alann Torres, Mike Davis, Rusty Branch and Red Benzon. Everyone else is a pretender until they prove otherwise.

With the latest ratings update, Torres has installed himself as the favorite to make it to Tuscon again next year. He's basically got everyone in place, as all of his 5.0 guys have managed to get bumped down to 4.5. Reid Strand has been much discussed and will be a huge obstacle for anyone to overcome, but he is far from being the only talented player on the San Antonio roster. Jorge Vasquez and Daniel Cambon will both be 4.5 next year, and former Nationals stud Chance Morgan still has a 4.5 rating and could well end up playing in the Alamo city.

Perennial contender Rusty Branch was hit fairly hard by the ratings, losing Jeremy Stone, Walt Williams, Clint Sumrow and Ron Morrison to the 5.0 ranks. Rusty will find replacements, but he'll certainly have his work cut out for him if he's gonna' compete with the San Antonio and Austin teams.

Mike Davis appears to have benefitted from the ratings almost as much as Torres. Everyone's favorite scrapper, Chad Case, is back in the 4.5 ranks two years after destroying almost everything in his path. Bo Bowman also returns after being DQ'd from the Austin team that went to nationals two years ago. Adding those two to an already strong lineup will give Davis' a fighting chance to compete with San Antonio.

Houston has fielded some of the strongest teams in the last few years, but the success has come with a price as many of the stars have moved on. Red Benzon's teams are always a serious threat to advance to Nationals, but he's been moved up to 5.0. Tim Green may pick up the slack, but the talent pool in Houston is not as deep as it has been in past years as many local stars have moved up. One notable bump-down in the area is Odion Dibua. If he rejoins his brother on the Kingwood team they will be a potent one-two punch, but the loss of Gary Armstrong, Glenn Wright and Tim Hurlbert leaves some extremely big shoes to fill. Even Odion's shoes may not be big enough.