Sampras can't sit still lately

Sports Illustrated senior writer Jon Wertheim chatted with CNNSI.com about the latest happenings in the pro tennis world on and off the courts:

CNNSI.com: For a guy who has always been a creature of habit, Pete Sampras is sure is making a lot of changes lately. What's going on?

Jon Wertheim: Things have been a little crazy lately by Sampras' standards. After not having won a tournament since Wimbledon of 2000, he told me recently that it was time to shake things up. He's certainly done that -- he has changed coaches twice, he also changed his management agency and he declined to wear Nike products a couple of months ago. Now he has re-signed with the company -- I'm told that deal is under the same terms he rejected in January.

One constant is that he still can't seem to play well in the desert. For the fifth year in a row Sampras didn't make even the quarterfinals in Scottsdale. One of the ironies here is that his big brother, Gus, is the tournament director. Don't expect much from Sampras in Indian Wells either.

CNNSI.com: Andy Roddick played in the final of the Delray tournament on Sunday, got sick and then pulled out of Indian Wells. Now he's being fined by the ATP. What's the story here?

Wertheim: Rules, as they say, are rules, but this is really an unfortunate situation. Roddick has been playing like a madman, entering all sorts of events. He went to Delray, his hometown tournament, made the final and was so sick Sunday that he vomited while leaving the court. Then he withdrew from Indian Wells after the appointed deadline, which drew him an automatic $10,000 fine. That fine will double if he declines to fly out to the site and have a Tour doctor certify his illness.

In theory, the rule makes sense -- discouraging players from bailing at the last minute. But one would hope that Roddick would be given some sort of leeway here. That he is legitimately ill is not in dispute -- just ask the guy who had to clean up the court. Here is a kid who was supposed to play six weeks in a row, and that's unheard of in men's tennis.

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CNNSI.com: Lindsay Davenport has been out of action since November with a knee injury. Will we see her back in the tennis midst soon?

Wertheim: There was actually a Davenport sighting at Indian Wells; she drove over from Orange County where she lives for a player tournament council meeting. Unfortunately, she was walking around on crutches, having had surgery in January to correct a cartilage problem in her knee. I'm told the recovery is going slowly. It could be a long time before we see her back on tour, perhaps as late as the U.S. Open.

CNNSI.com: A source of ongoing controversy is the site of the WTA Tour's year-end championships. Any more news?

Wertheim: The location of this event has been a bone of contention. Last year the Championships moved from New York City to Germany. Monica Seles boycotted, for obvious reasons; Anna Kournikova didn't qualify; Venus Williams didn't go. Crowds were lousy.

Despite denials from the Munich promoter, there's a bid to bring the event back to U.S., spearheaded by Phil Anschutz, an eccentric Colorado billionaire who owns half of MLS. The possible locations I've heard are the Staples Center in L.A. and Denver.

CNNSI.com: We've been hearing a lot about Martina Hingis off the court, given her relationship with Sergio Garcia. She hasn't won a Grand Slam in more than three years. Is this the end of her on-court success?

Wertheim: The chorus is getting louder that Hingis is washed up at the tender age of 21. After squandering those match points in the Australian Open final earlier this year, one wonders if her confidence isn't severely punctured. But temper your sympathy: On the heels of a solid performance this week in Indian Wells, Hingis may well surpass Martina Navratilova in career prize money with more than $21 million by year's end. Hingis has been playing full-time for six years. Navratilova played for more than 20.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Jon Wertheim covers the tennis beat for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com. Click here to send a question to his weekly tennis mailbag.

 

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