YEAR IN SPORTS | American dream

Luke Jensen can't think straight he's so mad.

When he first picked up a tennis racquet as a boy in Michigan, the sport mattered in the United States. When he won the 1993 French Open doubles title with his brother Murphy, the sport mattered. When he retired to broadcasting on ESPN, the sport mattered.

But now, in the words several years ago of former Sports Illustrated tennis writer and current Washington Post sports columnist Sally Jenkins, "tennis is dead." The leading cause of death: None of the flamboyant American personalities and rivalries that kept the game in the country's conscious for 30 years still exists.

No American man or woman reached the quarterfinals of last year's Wimbledon, the most prestigious of the sport's four grand slams, for the first time since 1911. Last August the women's top 10 did not include an American for the first time since weekly rankings were introduced in 1975.

"It really ticks me off…it really…(sigh)…it's always…(sigh)…I just think it's…" His voice trails off.

Tennis experts were at a loss for words upon hearing Jensen's decision to take the Syracuse job last summer.

"I have to say I was a little surprised he went to a place no one thinks of as a tennis hotbed," said Patrick McEnroe, captain of the U.S. Davis Cup team, which competes every year for national supremacy in the men's game. "I don't want to call it risky, but it's definitely a challenge in that it's not the South or California."

Location didn't matter to Jensen, 40. He needed an outlet, a stable one, to fully carry out his crusade to resurrect American tennis. He had enough of 100 clinics a year all over the world since his retirement after 10 doubles titles in 18 years two years ago.

Courtesy of his connections with Syracuse athletic director Daryl Gross, a huge tennis fanatic whom Jensen knew from their days at Southern California in the mid-80s, a university and community suddenly rested in Jensen's lap.

No one of his celebrity - his team knows him as the long-haired, fist-pumping, bandana-toting "Dual Hand Luke," the ambidextrous Jensen brother who could serve 130 mph with both hands - can reach as many junior players with his credibility as an ESPN analyst and his stability as a university coach.

His goals: a) build a powerhouse at SU by recruiting only Americans who want to play professionally, and b) make tennis the game of choice for Central New York children.

Never mind the SU program - gender-equity law prevents a men's team from forming in the foreseeable future - has failed to produce any players or teams of national significance in 32 years of existence (the highlight: three Big East titles in the '80s). And never mind the city of Syracuse boasts little tennis infrastructure with some 70 courts.

In Jensen's mind, he sees the 2017 Wimbledon champion removing her SU hat before curtsying to the Queen.

Jensen isn't the lone missionary. He comes to Syracuse just as national numbers are turning a corner. A 2005 study by the United States Tennis Association and the Tennis Industry Association noted recent surges in many categories gauging interest in the sport. Above all, the total number of Americans playing tennis in 2005 reached its highest point in 13 years (24.7 million).

"If there was ever anyone to inspire kids to play tennis, it's Luke," said McEnroe, Jensen's colleague at ESPN, on which the Syracuse coach will continue to flaunt his Orange gear at the four major tournaments every year. "He's great with kids in particular. When we do 'hits and giggles' together - what we call kids clinics - he brings the same energy he did as a player and [does as] a commentator."

"Everyone says, 'Syracuse? Why Syracuse?'" said Jensen, looking up from the racquet he was stringing in his office. "Why not?

"Why not?"

Sixteen board people sit in a boring conference room anxious to leave.

They are Syracuse public school officials, Onondaga Nation school officials, USTA officials, a Syracuse city official, local tennis pros, Jensen and his assistant coach Shelley George.

For 75 minutes they dissected the Orange Initiative, Jensen's plan to revitalize tennis in the city starting in May. The USTA will help produce "block parties" - carnival-like festivals with games and prizes for young children - at local schools and possibly Clinton Square. Jensen will eventually invade gym classes to reach the 15,000 elementary and middle-school kids across 32 schools in the Syracuse public school system.

Most invitees around the table are starting to steal glances at their cell phones and PDAs.

But Jensen wants to tell one more story.

He takes everyone to Moscow circa 1990. In between Kremlin Cup matches, Jensen arrived at a city gymnasium to work with the Soviet Union's top junior players. He then learned the gym had three tattered racquets for the 30 children standing in front of him.

Undeterred, the lesson continued. Hello, conditioning.

Four of those kids won grand slams this decade.

"That's why we can do this."

Christina Tan can't wait to run five miles in 40 minutes to make next year's team. She can't wait to practice all out for two hours every morning starting at 6:30. She can't wait to be part of the first team to endure what Jensen claims will be the most professional conditioning program in the country.

Tan, a member of Jensen's first recruiting class, will do anything for someone who leaves such motivating voicemails that she listens to some of them six months later.

Hey, get excited, I want you to help us take Syracuse tennis to the top.

"I've never known anyone like him," said Tan, a four-star recruit ranked 104th overall in the class of 2007 according to The Tennis Recruiting Network, the sport's premier junior ranking Web site. "He's so upbeat all the time. I've never met anyone that is so energetic."