French is open with no Henin

It's amazing how the absence of one player can create such a change in the look of one tournament. But Justine Henin wasn't just another player on clay.

Because of her retirement, any of a dozen women appear to be capable of emerging from two weeks' play in Paris with their first Grand Slam title, while several other players could add to their impressive list of Grand Slam successes, especially Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams.

You name it. Probably any player in the current world's top 15, plus a couple of others, could walk away from the French Open as champion.

Without Henin in the field, the French is wide open.

In the past, someone had to beat her before anyone else could even think about winning in Paris. Winning four titles in five years has that kind of effect.

Nau of the past?

Little do we realize how much smaller the Internet has made the world until we see a familiar person's name mentioned on the other side of the country. I was scanning a tennis site recently when the name Fritz Nau jumped out at me in a story about someone building a tennis complex in Boulder, Colo.

Nau had taught tennis to a pro named Kendall Chitambar, who had operated Weston Field Club Tennis in Weston, Conn. Chitambar was switching to Boulder where he planned to construct a 24-court complex.

Chitambar described himself as a late starter in tennis, "But I was able with the help of some world-class coaches — Nandor Veres, Billy Stearns (who operates the Smith-Stearns Tennis Academy on Hilton Head Island with Stan Smith) and Fritz Nau (who in the 1990s directed the Gold Coast Tennis Academy in Boca Raton, Fla.) — to improve my level enough to compete for three years on the ITF professional satellite circuit."

Yes, it's impressive how much respect tennis people from all over the world have for Fritz Nau. Charleston was fortunate enough to have Fritz around for seven years, or what has been the golden years of Charleston tennis.

But now Nau is packing up and heading for Naples, Fla., where he plans to teach tennis. His 11-year-old son, Ryan, will train there, while attending Nick Bollettieri's Academy one week a month. Fritz Nau has been taking it easy in Charleston the last couple of months after selling his share of the Players Club to former partner Robert Haydock.

Dunes West on move

Director of tennis Jack Miller reports that Dunes West is "stepping up its junior tennis program." Former College of Charleston men's coach Phil Whitesell has joined Miller's staff of pros, bringing the college approach to training to Dunes West.

Dan Rechner, who worked with Fritz Nau's juniors as an agility trainer when Nau was the tennis director at Family Circle Tennis Center, has joined the Dunes West staff as agility coach, taking the junior program to another level of tournament preparation.

Former Wofford and Academic Magnet player Cadill Maharaj also is on the Dunes West pro staff.

For questions about the Dunes West programs, contact Miller at dwproshop@jwhomes.com.

"Battle" deadline

Don't forget that the deadline for registering for Lee Brockman's "Battle of James Island" is Thursday. The competition that pits the Country Club of Charleston, Maybank Tennis Center and the James Island Yacht Club in team competition is scheduled for Saturday. Brockman, the Country Club's tennis director, can be contacted at ccctennis@comcast.net.

A continental breakfast kicks off the social event, followed by men's, women's and mixed doubles, with a covered dish wrapping things up from 1-2 p.m.

Reach James Beck at jdbeck@postandcourier.com.