Sunday, August 06, 2000

The boys are back in town

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        Tennis reigns locally over the next week as the ATP Tour's Tennis Masters Series Cincinnati brings the top players in the world to the ATP Tennis Center in Mason.

        As always, plenty goes on after the gang leaves the area for a year. Let's take a look:

Fifth-seeded Gustavo Kuerten kisses the trophy after he defeated third-seeded Magnus Norman of Sweden during their final at the French Open tennis tournament. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

Guitar man
        So far, three Grand Slams and five Tennis Masters Series events have been completed. One guess as to who has appeared in the most finals (four) in the eight events? Try Brazilian Gustavo Kuerten, now a two-time winner of the French Open. But “Guga,” as he is known in tennis circles, is a multi-talent. After a match at Rome, Guga was handed a guitar during a news conference and ended up singing “Knockin' on Heaven's Door” by Bob Dylan. Journalists gave him a standing ovation when he was finished.

Pete Sampras raises arms after defeating Patrick Rafter in the Men's Singles final at Wimbledon. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

Helping hand
        Pete Sampras, the defending champion here, stepped up his charity involvement this year with the inaugural Pete Sampras Classic, a celebrity golf tournament in March in Westlake Village, Calif. The event, which included a dinner and auction, raised $90,000 for the Tim and Tom Gullikson Foundation, which supports programs for brain tumor patients and their families. Tim Gullikson, Sampras' former coach, died of a brain tumor. Dennis Miller, the newest “Monday Night Football” addition, played host to the dinner. Among the players: Actor/comedian Ray Romano, actor Matt Damon, actor Dennis Hopper, actor Andy Garcia, Atlanta quarterback Chris Chandler, former hockey great Wayne Gretzky, retired tennis star Jim Courier and Yevgeny Kafelnikov.

Lleyton Hewitt celebrates his victory against Juan Carlos Ferrero during their semifinal match in the Franklin Templeton Tennis Classic in March. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

Young gun I
        Australian Lleyton Hewitt, 19, has won four tournaments this year (Adelaide, Sydney, Scottsdale, London/Queen's); that's the most titles for a teen-ager since Sampras won four times in 1990 at age 19. Hewitt finished 1999 ranked No. 22 in the world, becoming the youngest polayer to finish in the top 25 in seven years.

Young gun II
        Andy Roddick has already received a wild card into the tournament here. The 17-year-old is the No. 1-ranked junior in the world in singles and doubles. In January, he became the first American to win the Australian Open junior championship in 41 years. Tennis Masters Series Cincinnati tournament chairman Paul Flory likes to give young Americans a chance. In recent years, he has granted wild cards to Paul Goldstein, Cecil Mamiit, Steve Campbell and Justin Gimelstob.

Rich get richer
        There are 69 ATP Tour events this year. Total prize money available: $58.1 million. In 1999, 17 players earned more than $1 million in prize money, and 42 earned more than a half million. That does not include endorsements and appearance guarantees.

The king is dead
        After four years of winning the Prix Citron award as the most difficult player to deal with at the French Open, Marcelo Rios was replaced. The 2000 winner, as voted by the media: Yevgeny Kafelnikov.

Tim Henman celebrates after defeating Nicholas Keifer in last year's tournament. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

On the flip side
        Britain's Tim Henman took over for Goran Ivanisevic as ATP Tour Charities chairman. Henmen will donate $160 for every ace during the year 2000 to Sargent Cancer Care of Children, an organization in the United Kingdom that offers counseling and financial support to young cancer patients and their families. His donation will be matched by ATP Tour Charities.

Inexplicable
        Vince Spadea finished 1999 with his best ranking ever, No. 20. He was 8-3 against top-10 players. So how to understand an ATP Tour-record 21-match losing streak? Of all things, Spadea ended his slump in the first round at Wimbledon against Greg Rusedski, no patsie himself. It took five sets and just less than four hours. “My parents went home two days ago,” Spadea said. “I think they saw the draw and said, "Vince, man, good luck to you, boy.'”

Good pub
        People magazine named Todd Martin one of the Most Eligible Bachelors in America. In a previous issue, Jan-Michael Gambill was included as one of the magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People. Gambill has been asked about comparisons to Anna Kournikova on the women's tour. “I can't change the way I look,” he said. “I want to go out and play great tennis. That's all I really think about out there on the court. It's certainly never entered my mind that I would be compared to Anna.”

Fond farewell
        Jim Courier, a popular player here often seen with a Reds baseball hat, called it quits in May. His retirement followed MaliVai Washington's. The two Americans were among a crop of top U.S. players that have carried the sport's popularity over the last decade or so, including Agassi, Sampras, Chang and Martin.

        Washington, incidently, played his final match as a professional in Cincinnati last year, losing in the first round to Arnaud Di Pasquale 6-4, 6-3.

Dog day afternoon
        Marat Safin, the 20-year-old Russian who lost in the final of the Tennis Masters Series event in Hamburg (to Kuerten), became the first player fined for tanking a Grand Slam match after he lost in the first round of the Australian Open to qualifier Grant Stafford (7-6, 6-4, 6-1). The International Tennis Federation fined Safin $2,000 for not giving his best effort. This is the same guy who claims to have broken 48 racquets last year. Safin, xxx in the points race, is playing in Cincinnati for the second time.

Don't blame it on Rios
        Rios, a native of Chile, had pelvis surgery last November and was off the tour circuit for more than three months. The man who was ranked No. 1 in March 1998 and finished that year second in the world, is now tied for 32nd. He won three titles and finished No. 9 last year.

Foreshadowing?
        You may recall that Steffi Graf announced her retirement from women's tennis during last year's ATP Championship. Almost every men's player to come into the media room that day was asked for reaction. So, what did Mr. Agassi have to say? “Real strong mixed emotions. It is certainly a loss for tennis because in my opinion she is the best lady that has ever played ... on the other side of it is a sense of happiness for the next chapter in her life, which I am sure she is looking forward to.” When asked how well he knew Graf personally, Agassi responded: “Not as well as — not very well.”

        A few weeks later, the two were dating and have been since.

        “I knew enough to know I wanted to know more,” Agassi says now.

Mixed doubles
        Agassi and Graf aren't the only ATP Tour-WTA crossovers this year. Magnus Norman has been sighted with Martina Hingis, Xavier Malisse with Jennifer Capriati, Lleyton Hewitt with Kim Clijsters (Belgium) and Andrei Medvedev with Olga Barabanschikova. In fact, Hewitt and Clijsters played together in the Wimbledon mixed doubles final, losing to Americans Donald Johnson and Kimberly Po.

       

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