Just What is a Dirt Rat?

I'm happy you asked.

A dirt rat is a tennis term with a couple of definitions.

Often times, it is used as something of a derogatory term. Used this way, it is a name given to a player that does most of his or her damage at clay court tournaments, many of which take place in far-flung places in Europe and Latin America.

Taking it one step further, it can also imply that said player hoards points, thus inflating their ranking, based almost solely on their performances in these clay court events.

Until his mid-to-late career push to be a perennial top-five player, David Ferrer might have been lumped into this group. Right now, I'd have to say that Juan Monaco fits this bill. I'm not trying to take anything away from Monaco. He is a solid pro and he has played some of his best tennis over the last year or so. But he's not the 12th best player in the world, as his ranking would indicate.

Of his seven career tournament wins, only one is on a surface other than clay. He has been the runner-up at nine different tournaments in his career and, again, only one has been on a surface other than clay. His first-round exit in straight sets at the Australian Open just goes to show what can happen to him when he plays off of his favorite surface.

So that's one use.

The other use of the term is far more positive.

I like to think of a dirt rat as a real grinder. A player that goes all out for every point. Think the aforementioned David Ferrer or a couple favorites of mine, Marcos Baghdatis and Lleyton Hewitt.

I have a lot of respect for this type of player. There is something to be said about going into a match knowing that you don't have the big weapons other players have and still  finding a way to be competitive. Above all else, these guys bring their best every single day.

That's the spirit I'm going for in this blog. I'm going to cover tennis from all angles. I will be looking to cover the Grand Slam tournaments, sure, but I also want to bring coverage of smaller tournaments all over the globe.

I'm looking forward to getting started. I hope you will come along for the ride.