In honor of our trip to Cuba (don’t worry, I’m Canadian) in less than 48 hours, I thought I’d spend a quick moment looking into what Cuba has to offer in the world of professional tennis. This nation has never been anything even remotely near a tennis powerhouse, but there have been some notables.

Cuba’s best tennis player:
Reynaldo Garrido - Won the Canadian Masters back in 1959, and reached 3rd round of the U.S Open back in 1956.

Ok, so he wasn’t dominating.

Currently there aren’t any male players in the top 100, 200, 300, or 400.
How about the women? Didn’t see anyone in the top 100.

Well, this isn’t very fun is it…

How about Davis Cup? Alright!!! They hold a ranking of #95, just barely in front of Tajikistan…Hmmmmm.

Fed Cup? Now we’re talking! The women are ranked a respectable 52nd, just in front of Mexico. Take that Mexicans!

The Cuban women are even 4-0 in 2009. Thanks primarily to Yamile Fors-Guerra who has not dropped a match in singles or doubles. Who is this Yamile you ask? Well, according to the Fed Cup Website, it is entirely unknown whether she is a left-hander, or right-hander. Again…Hmmmmmmm.

So currently, much to my dismay, there really isn’t a heck of a lot of notable promise coming out of Cuba on the tennis front.

But the country is as beautiful as any, the local population are bright, warm people…and the beaches, the water and the resort tennis courts are perfect.

Next week - You can have Nadal…I will have Havana.

MarkOskar

Original post by Mark Oskar