The Under-the-Radar Tigers, and the Perseverance of Nadal

When the subject of American League contenders is raised, one immediately thinks of the Yankees, Red Sox, and Angels. They are the creme-de-la-creme, and according to popular belief, the only three AL teams with legitimate World Series aspirations. But there is one team that is flying completely under the radar, one team with a vast wealth of talent that will make them dangerous in October. That team is the Detroit Tigers. Entering Saturday, Detroit has a comfortable six-game lead in the AL Central. Granted, this is a weak division, as the Minnesota Twins and Chicago White Sox don't exactly strike fear in the hearts of their opponents. With this being said, however, the Tigers deserve some attention and respect.

There are several reasons why the Tigers will be a force to be reckoned with in October. The first is their manager, the feisty and ultra competitive Jim Leyland. At 64 years of age, Leyland has more passion and energy than most people half his age. He has the respect of everyone in baseball, due in large part to his impressive managerial track record of turning around previously doomed franchises. After being hired by the Florida Marlins in 1997, Leyland immediately delivered a World Series title in what was only the fifth year of existence for the Fish. When Leyland got the Tigers managerial job in 2006, the franchise was in total ruins, only three years removed from a 119-loss season. But in his first year, Jim Leyland led the Tigers to an American League pennant. Now, Detroit is back in the hunt again. Their pitching, led by Justin Verlander and Edwin Jackson, and their offense, led by Magglio Ordonez and Placido Polanco, will keep the Tigers in every game in the postseason. The Yankees, Red Sox, and Angels shouldn't celebrate an AL pennant just yet.

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With the exception of Melanie Oudin's stunning win over Elena Dementieva, the 2009 U.S. Open has not yet seen many upsets. All of the big names remain. However, last night at Flushing Meadow we saw some signs of struggle from Rafael Nadal. Nadal, coming off a knee injury that prevented him from defending his title at Wimbledon, labored in his second round match against Nicolas Kiefer. Kiefer pushed Nadal to a hard-fought fourth set, a fact that does not bode well for Nadal if he wants to beat the likes of Federer, Roddick, and Murray. With this being said, though, panic is not warranted. Even in a struggle last night, Nadal showed why he is such a tenacious competitor. Rafa thrives under adversity, and he never stopped battling against Kiefer, eventually battling his way to victory. Rafael Nadal is still a major threat to win the U.S. Open.

The Nadal-Kiefer match was the primetime event at Center Court last night, but the most thrilling match of the night took place at the Grandstands court between Taylor Dent and Ivan Navarro. Dent and Navarro delivered an enthralling five-set thriller that worked its way to a fifth-set tiebreak. In the end, the American Taylor Dent prevailed, adding another chapter to an inspirational Cinderella story. Dent was once ranked 21st in the world, viewed by many as the next big thing in tennis. But two back surgeries left him out of tennis for four years. Last night's win was a sweet return for Dent, a reminder that pure grit and determination can indeed overcome physical shortcomings.