 |
| |
|
 |
 |
Is there a Sampras/Roddick feud? Posted: Monday February 11, 2002 10:38 AM
Sports Illustrated senior writer Jon Wertheim will answer your tennis questions every Monday. Click here to send a question. Some random jottings: OK, so maybe it's not the last of the great tennis citadels. But the good folks of Oklahoma City deserve a tip of the cowboy hat for putting on a well-run, fan-friendly event last weekend. ... Naples, Fla. is the rumored site for the U.S. versus Spain tie the first week of April. Want to bet they won't play matches on clay? ... With Australia and Britain both bounced from the competition (by Argentina and Sweden, respectively) the U.S. has a fair shot at winning the chalice for the first time since 1995. .... After James Blake and Mardy Fish won their doubles match so decisively, Captain Pat is almost obligated to call their number again, even though both the Bryan Brothers and Don Johnson-Jared Palmer are far more highly regarded teams. Blake and Fish's win over Karol Beck and Jan Kroslak was the first time the U.S. won a doubles point since a tie against the Aussies in July of 2000. Trivia: who played for the U.S. that day? .... The "I'm-a-loser-baby-so-why-don't-you-kill-me" jokes notwithstanding, Beck isn't a shabby player at all. .... Confirming the rumor du jour for the past few weeks, it appears that Andre Agassi will retain Darren Cahill as his new coach. ... Subliminal Man wants to know: Who [Marat Safin] will shell out the shekels [Mats Wilander's heart's not in it anyway] for Brad Gilbert's services [Marat Safin]? ... Pete Sampras was shown great deference last week by Andy Roddick, Fish and Blake and he appreciated the respect: "I was genuinely flattered."... Venus Williams after winning the Gaz de France event after her opponent in the finals, Jelena Dokic, could not play because of a leg muscle injury: "I'd like to take the fall off and go to school." Music to Kevin Wulff's ears. ... Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski didn't exactly shed their choke collars last weekend. After England led a depleted Swedish team 2-1, both Brits lost their singles matches on Sunday, winning just one set between them. Trivia answer: Sampras and Alex O'Brien . Westward ho... Reading between the lines, it seemed there was some tension between Pete
Sampras and Andy Roddick in Oklahoma City. Sounded like the typical "old
guard, new guard" stuff. Sampras saying Roddick was a just a kid
"playing Ping-Pong in his underwear" and Roddick saying Sampras was an
old man. What was your
take?
It sounds like a juicy storyline, but I didn't see it. I'm not saying Sampras and Roddick are on each other's buddy list, but it's not exactly a Jay-Z/Nas feud either. Roddick gave Pete his props, but then again, only four places separated them in the 2001 rankings. In the same vein, Sampras seems to recognize that if he's the only focal point for U.S. tennis, the sport's in trouble. The whole young/old division was more Oscar-Felix shtick than anything else. Over the last couple of years there has been a lot of discussion about race
relations issues in tennis (i.e., the James Blake-Lleyton Hewitt match, the
Williams sisters, and the constant whining of Alexandra Stevenson's mother).
However, no one seems to have noticed the fact that the top South African player
(Amanda Coetzer) is coached by an African-American woman (Lori McNeil), not to
mention the fact that they are doubles partners. How did that situation fly
under the radar? Another question: How many female coaches are out there? I know
Hana Mandlikova and Patricia Tarabini coach, but who else? Has any respectable
male player ever used a female coach?
At the risk of getting all kumbaya on you, maybe it's a sign of progress. I heard from former NCAA champ John Lucas (who happened to be a fair basketball player) that McNeil was working with Coetzer. But I simply thought of it as a low-maintenance veteran player hiring her doubles partner for double-duty. Any sort of racial context escaped me. That both Coetzer and McNeil are soft-spoken and professional helped keep this "under the radar screen." As for female coaches, there are a handful, most of them moms like Melanie Molitor and Oracene Williams. Lina Krasnoroutskaya is coached by former player Larissa Neiland and Elena Dementieva, you'll recall, was once coached by Marat Safin's mom. As I've said before, I think one reason there aren't more female coaches is that players get a better hit with a man. (Of course those, like the Williams sisters, with a female coach simply retain a male practice partner.) The only male I know who ever retained a female coach was Andrei Chesnokov. Are you excited about the announcement last week that NASDAQ will sponsor the
Key Biscayne
event?
Am I excited?!?! If excitement were vanity, I'd be Bill O'Reilly. If exuberance were teeth, I'd be Barbara Schett. Seriously, whenever tennis gets corporate backing, it's good for the sport And the folks in Key Biscayne are no doubt happy they're no longer relying on Tyco for long-term support. I must take issue with your knock on Ivan Lendl. As you correctly pointed out, his failure to win Wimbledon makes him something less than the greatest ever, but, for the love of God, at least Lendl tried! And he did have a number of semis and finals appearances. How much serious clay-court preparation has Sampras put in over the years? I don't see him slugging it out in Europe all spring. Ditto for Johnny Mac. My question: For the modern Open era men's tennis, do you think that winning all
four Slams is a prerequisite for greatest-ever status? If so, who would be the
greatest ever? Agassi? Connors?
Just want to be sure we're talking about the same Ivan Lendl. You know, the one who begged off Wimbledon one year claiming an allergy to grass and then spent the two weeks playing golf. I'll put Sampras' results on clay up against Lendl's on grass any day. Sampras made the quarters or better four times at Roland Garros, is a past Italian Open winner (1994), and in 1995 he singlehandedly won the U.S. its last Davis Cup on clay. Agreed, he should have worked harder on his clay-court game earlier in his career, but even this year, he'll play three tuneups in Europe -- hubristically, perhaps -- before giving it another go in Paris. As long as we're smooching Pete, I wouldn't say that winning all four Slams is a pre-req for "greatest ever" consideration. Sampras' winning the most Slams doesn't, de facto, give him that honor. (after all, no one considered Roy Emerson the best player before Wimbledon 2000). But Sampras has won more than 50 other titles. He also holds perhaps the most underrated record in tennis: six years straight at No.1. As we watch the undulations of players like Agassi, Ivanisevic and even Kuerten and Safin, Sampras' consistency will be accorded more and more weight. Much as I hate the bar-room game of comparing players of different eras, I look at Sampras' athleticism -- he's 6-1 and can dunk! -- and have a hard time seeing Laver or Borg or whomever beating him head-to-head. First of all, all of this complaining about Thomas Johansson's demeanor is getting stuck in my craw. So he's introverted, so what? Personally, I like the fact that he didn't go whooping and hollering all over the court. There is something to be said for reservedness. Just ask Pete Sampras. And second -- now that I'm off my soapbox -- what happened to Richard Kraijeck?
Did he retire? I knew he had some major knee problems, but I thought he was on a
comeback. Where is he
now?
OK, we'll stop bagging on Tommy Jo. Rigor mortis is no laughing matter. Krajicek is due back later this month in Rotterdam. His knees may be shot, but so long as he comes armed with that elephant gun serve, he's dangerous, particularly on faster courts. Now, Jon, ol' buddy, ol' pal: Who are your favorite male and female tennis
players of all time and
why?
Ol' buddy, ol' pal? Even my old buddies and old pals don't call me that. Limiting this to players who are no longer active, I'll say Serena Williams and Gustavo Kuerten. Just kidding. For women, I'll take Jana Novotna. Her game had so much effortless style and grace and there was something both poignant and humanizing about her mental battles. As far as men, Mansour Bahrami barely cracked the top 200 in the ATP rankings but he still gets my vote. In his early 20s, when most players hit their peak, he was playing backgammon in Iran, his chosen sport of tennis deemed "Western and satanic" by the Ayatollah. He finally got out and is now tennis' answer to Curly Neal, a player with unreal natural talent and a bottomless bag of trick shots. Catch him in a seniors event if you ever get the chance. I'd like your opinion on the comeback chances of the following players: Anna
Kournikova, Mary Pierce, Corina Morariu, Mirjana Lucic and Chanda
Rubin.
Unfortunately, a prerequisite for earning Comeback Player is actually "coming back." Most of the players you mention have shown few if any signs of making a return, triumphant or otherwise. Pierce is back on the shelf. I'm not sure Rubin will make much noise even when she does return. Morariu would be a wonderful story but she's in no shape to return right now. Lucic, who was a match from the Wimbledon finals just a few years ago, was playing $50,000 USTA Challengers at last check. That leaves... Do the chair umpires also get a bathroom break, should they need
one?
For the answer, check out www.stadiumpal.com 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. |
