Schultz-McCarthy returns to tennis, and not all the spin is topspin

Dutch tennis star Brenda Schultz, now Brenda Schultz-McCarthy, used to have the fastest serve in women's tennis--she once clocked a ball at 123 mph. Venus Williams' 127 mph. ball is now the record, and other women have hit the ball at 123, but Schultz-McCarthy did a lot of damage with her serve during her years on the tour, and was in the top 10.

A herniated disc stopped Schultz-McCartney's career in 1999, and she set up a tennis camp in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Last year, however, she coached the Netherlands' Fed Cup team, and when she realized she could play better than her team members, she decided to give the tour another go.

In order to get back into professional tennis, Schultz-McCarthy had to hand over most of her considerable tour winnings to repay her insurance money from the injury. Though she won the DFS Classic in 1992, the tournament declined to give her a wild card, which many of us think was on the mean side. She then entered the Ordina Open, where she has already made it to the round of 16, having beaten both Laura Granville and Poland's talented Marta Domachowska.

Schultz-McCarthy is 35 years old. When Pete Sampras won his last U.S. Open, he was 31. Everyone said what an amazing athlete he was. If Schultz-McCarthy keeps winning, some people will say she is a good athlete, but many will say her success just proves how bad the women's tour is. They are already saying it. What a difference a gender makes.