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Getting back in the swing Posted: Monday January 07, 2002 1:22 PM
Sports Illustrated senior writer Jon Wertheim will answer your tennis questions every Monday. Click here to send a question. Last week in Auckland, Anna Kournikova squandered a perfect opportunity to -- all together now -- win her first career title. But after reaching the semis, she had her beret handed to her by the unspectacular (but spectacularly named) Anna Smashnova. Ranked No. 88 in the world, Smashnova went on to capture the Tier III tournament, beating Tatiana Panova of Lilliput in the final. ... An inauspicious first week of 2002 for Andy Roddick. As he was flying to Sydney from Florida, his beloved Nebraska Cornhuskers were getting mauled by Miami in the Rose Bowl. When he landed, Roddick also learned that his luggage had been lost. ... In the market for an Australian Open darkhorse? Tim Henman, who rarely performs well in Slams other than Wimbledon, beat a resurgent Mark Philippoussis to win in Adelaide. ... Guillermo Canas beat surprise finalist Paradorn Srichaphan to win the Tata Open, surely Beavis and Butthead's favorite tennis event. ... The latest batch of Australian Open wild cards were granted Monday to veterans Scott Draper and Richard Fromberg, as well as to prospect Todd Reid. ... Playing her first Tier III tournament in more than two years, Venus Williams beat Justine Henin in the final to win in Gold Coast. ... On account of a knee injury, Lindsay Davenport has withdrawn from Melbourne. As a result, she almost surely will lose the No. 1 ranking this week to Jennifer Capriati. ... Check back later this week for an Australian Open seed report. Onward to a Panova-sized Mailbag ... Regarding the recent discussion on female players being junkballers, perhaps this could be the key to Martina Hingis' comeback. Instead of trying to outhit the hitters (bad advice from Mama?), maybe she should focus on junkballing them to death. She certainly has enough talent to pull it off. I remember a story from way back (I can't believe we're saying "way back" about someone who's still so young!) that mentioned how she had this uncanny talent for copying other players' strokes. Maybe she should watch tapes of Brad Gilbert, Fabrice Santoro, et al. Your thoughts?
For the record, Mama is the one who has been encouraging Hingis to outwit, not outhit, her opponents. Hingis' problem lately is that when she gets into a rally, hubris takes over and she wants to bang from the baseline rather than junk things up and open up the court. Hingis has too much native talent and volleys too well to be a pure junkballer. But I like the idea of her watching tapes of Gilbert to see how he neutralized power. (Now if only she could do something about those 70-mph meatball first serves ...) The other player who would do well to sublimate her ego and learn to "win ugly" is Kournikova. She's not going to overpower the top guns from the baseline. And as good an athlete and volleyer as she is, her serve is too erratic for her to become an attacking player. If she played with more subtlety and patience, improved her tactics and worked on her angles, there's no question her results would improve. I recently read that NFL running back Ricky Williams is taking Paxil (an anti-anxiety drug) and that his performance on the field has improved dramatically since starting on the medication. Do either the ATP or WTA have rules regulating the use of anti-anxiety drugs? It seems as if such drugs could be of assistance to players who struggle with controlling their nerves. Where should the line be drawn between treating a legitimate psychiatric condition and performance enhancement?
Very interesting question. This comes from the ATP and is based on information provided by Skip Jones, who is tennis' anti-doping administrator, and Richard Ings, the ATP executive vice president of rules and competition: The Tennis Anti-Doping Program, jointly used by the ATP, WTA Tour and ITF, has a list of prohibited substances. The substances on that list enhance physical performance. Products on the banned list may be taken by an athlete if he has a medical condition that can ONLY be resolved through that medication and he receives an exemption from the program's administrator prior to taking the medication. It is rare, but it can happen. As a class of drugs, anti-anxiety drugs are not prohibited under the Tennis Anti-Doping Program. Paxil (paroxetine) is not on the List of Prohibited Substances. However, there are medicinal agents that are used as anti-anxiety or anti-depressant agents which do appear on the List of Prohibited Substances, for they can be utilized for their stimulant properties. One example of this is the drug bupropion (trade name Wellbutrin), which has recently been added by the IOC (and Tennis Anti-Doping Program) to the List of Prohibited Substances as a prohibited stimulant. So it is important to differentiate between taking something to enhance performance and taking something to overcome a medical condition that can be resolved in no other way. In the example, the medical condition is acute anxiety, which is treated with a medication that is not on the banned list. Anxiety is a medical condition which can be treated to the benefit of the athlete's health and allow him to lead a more normal life. Perhaps it's the desk job ... perhaps it's the Oregon rain ... but I'm yearning for the Australia sun, and next year I'll make my move: quit my job and start an odyssey with the friendliest Grand Slam of the year. What kind of job (volunteer or paid) would be available for a shoestring traveler at a Grand Slam or Tier I event? Something that would be in demand and unique (dog-sitting for female pros?) or in demand and more ordinary (cold-beer gopher for journalists?).
Truth to tell, walking the dogs of the female pros is far less glamorous and unique than dispensing beer in the press room. Maybe you can supervise the queues for player courtesy cars to make sure certain blonde females don't cut the line. Otherwise, I'd suggest contacting the head of volunteers. Your instincts are right, though: Melbourne would be a great antidote to a dreary, rainy winter in the Pacific Northwest. Sell plasma to get there if you have to. I fail to understand all the hype about Andy Roddick. OK, so he has a great serve, a devastating forehand and an unbelievable self-belief, teamed with a kamikaze fearlessness on big points. My feeling is if he does not expand his game -- follow his serve, or at least his forehand, to net -- those wily veterans on tour will learn to contain his power and that will be the end of A-Rod. What do you think?
That's it for Roddick? Just a great serve, devastating forehand, unbelievable self-belief and fearlessness on big points? With assets like that, who needs weaknesses? No question Roddick could stand to expand his game (who couldn't?), and many of you have written that he should start by getting to the net more often. But I'd say he's doing pretty well for a 19-year-old who, a year ago, didn't bother going to Australia because he would have had to qualify. This will be an interesting year for him, though: As more players get hip to his game and his tendencies, will his results suffer? Now that he's gone from a prospect to a seed saddled with expectations, how will he handle the pressure? Spun more optimistically, now that he knows what the tour is all about and knows he can compete with anyone, will he continue his ascent? Stay tuned ... My favorite "nobody-has-ever-heard-of" for the last two years has been Francesca Schiavone. Now she goes and topples Kim Clijsters and Monica Seles in the same week. Is she the next breakthrough player on the WTA Tour? And do we have to wait for the clay-court season to see her take a title or two?
We might have to wait for a title, but Schiavone is a player well worth watching. Her star turn last week didn't come from nowhere. For the past few years, she's climbed steadily and has established herself as a bona fide top-20 player. She's nobody's power hitter, but plays with flair-issimo and has a gorgeous, Henin-esque backhand. First, a comment. Last week's 'Bag addressed the tendency of U.S. networks to cover American players more heavily. This point has been made before and usually includes the words xenophobia or arrogant. The truth is this is NOT an American phenomenon. All countries who have players competing do this. Try catching an Andre Agassi match in Germany when Tommy Haas is playing -- or any match in England when Tim Henman is. Hell, they'd show Henman playing a ballboy. I was recently reading a post on a tennis board by a very angry French fan. He admitted that he found himself praying for his no-name countrymen to fall fast and early so French coverage would have no choice but to cover the more competitive "foreign" matches instead of those of lesser French players, which is their custom. That said, have you noticed that Lleyton Hewitt cannot stop tugging at his underwear? A nervous tick? A poorly selected Christmas gift? A rash of some sort?
You're absolutely right. Many moons ago, I remember watching a spellbinding French Open match between Michael Chang and Jimmy Connors on German television. At a crucial juncture, the network switched the coverage to Steffi Graf's warmup before her straight-set demolition of someone like Sabine Hack. Again, we all understand the economics involved in sports television and realize that Agassi or the Williams sisters romping in straight sets is going to outdraw, say, a Max Mirnyi-Fabrice Santoro epic. But it sure would be nice if the networks felt some obligation to give viewers the best matches. As for your second point, my best guess: It was an unfortunately located cluster of chicken pox. How about Iroda Tulyaganova as a possible top-10 prospect? She recorded wins over Mary Pierce, Elena Dementieva, Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin in 2001, taking two tournament titles along the way. I realize that she also suffered some disappointing losses, but that will happen before someone becomes a true top-10 player, right?
Tulyaganova is a player you want on your tennis rotisserie team. She plays often, beats some good players and racks up titles at smaller events. To the dismay of copy editors everywhere, she is a credible player whose name will be misspelled in agate type for another decade. I'm not sure, however, that she's top-10 material. The few times I've seen her play, she's had little answer for the power of bigger players. By your own admission, you have a dirty little habit of sometimes picking longshots to win tournaments, just so you'll look clever if it actually happens. Following in your footsteps, I hereby declare that The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring will win the Oscar for Best Picture. In the Bedroom? Ha! Vanilla Sky? Double-ha! Rings is one of the most powerful, detailed, lovingly crafted films I have ever seen. The Academy has never agreed with me before, but I fully expect it to start doing so this year. Oh, yeah -- Monica Seles will win the Aussie Open. You heard it from me.
Lots of movie questions this week. Now that both the WTA and ATP are out of hibernation, what do you say we return to tennis-related questions? That said, if Seles won the Australian Open, that would be Oscar-worthy. Sadly, I think Glitter wins Best Picture before that happens. What can you tell me about the American player Richie Tenenbaum, who I think played on tour in the early '80s?
Funny, Ari (or was it Uzi?) Orenstein of Arlington, Va., asked a similar question. "The Baumer" was blessed with a surfeit of talent and, alas, a deficit of mental toughness. Coming from a comically dysfunctional family, he famously cracked during a U.S. Open match against a little-known player named Gandhi. In one of the most egregious tank jobs tennis has known, he took off his shoes at one point and played barefoot. He was never the same after that. Fortunately, thanks to a generous long-term endorsement deal with Fila, he is keeping his head above water. Have a good week, everyone!
Sports Illustrated senior writer Jon Wertheim, author of Venus Envy: A Sensational Season Inside the Women's Tennis Tour, is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com. Click here to send him a question or comment.
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