The Great Unknown

A couple of years ago, I saw Chase Utley in a restaurant. When it became obvious whom it was, no one in the place could keep it together, from the patrons sitting near him to the waiters taking his order. There was a buzz about the place, as if we were being treated to something special, even though for Utley, one would assume, eating a meal happens at least three times a day.

But when I sat with Lisa Raymond at Wayne's Gryphon Café, one of those suburban coffee shops decorated with just enough kitsch to remind patrons they aren't sitting in a Starbucks, there was no buzz, no whispers. Nobody stopped by the table. Nobody cared. As far as the other patrons were concerned, we were just normal women, even though one of us is an abnormally fit 38-year-old. (Spoiler alert: That's not me.)

But why was the deafening absence of buzz so palpable? Because Lisa Raymond isn't just an abnormally fit 38-year-old. She's also one of the most accomplished tennis players in the history of the game. Over a career that has spanned two decades, she has won 74 doubles titles, including five grand slams. In fact, she's one of just 13 women's doubles players to have achieved a career grand slam, which she got by winning the French Open with former partner Samantha Stosur in 2006. Twice ranked as the No. 1 women's doubles player in the world (in 2001 and 2006), she's taken home more than $9 million in prize money.

"As a doubles player, she's as good as it gets," says Jon Wertheim, a senior writer at Sports Illustrated who has known Raymond for 15 years.

What's even more remarkable about all this is that, in a sport in which most flame out in their 20s, Raymond, even at 38, is still among the world's best.

"A 20-year career is one out of a hundred, or one out of several hundred," says Pam Shriver, the former pro and current TV analyst who played her final singles match against Raymond 15 years ago. "You can only think of a handful of players who have done that. I had 19 years between my first and last tournaments, and I probably overplayed that by a couple of years."

And yet Raymond still isn't satisfied. This week, she will participate in her 19th Australian Open, where a title would help her once again regain the top doubles ranking, a spot she hopes to share with the current occupant, partner Liezel Huber. "She's like the .290 hitter who plays 20 seasons," says Wertheim. "She's the Chase Utley in a world of Manny Ramirezes."