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Inside Tennis
Posted: Tuesday July 04, 2000 01:53 PM Steffi Graf at Wimbledon Vladimir Voltchkov, ranked No. 237, fought his way into the second week of Wimbledon By S.L. Price
Vladimir Voltchkov may have won the Wimbledon juniors in 1996, but there were abundant reminders at this year's tournament that he had yet to infiltrate the big time. Before his fourth-round match on Monday he couldn't find a practice partner, so he warmed up by going for a run. His minuscule bio in the ATP Tour media guide incorrectly lists his birthday as July 4 (it's April 7). What's more, lacking an apparel contract, Voltchkov took the court in London wearing a Nike top with Adidas shorts. "Actually, I borrowed the shorts from Marat Safin," he says. "He lost last week, so I took some of his clothes and his grass-court shoes."
The son of two electricians, Voltchkov turned pro in 1995. Shaky confidence and a bum right shoulder kept his ranking out of the top 100, relegating him to qualifying draws and the challenger circuit. His future looks brighter after his Wimbledon performance, which guaranteed him a payday of roughly $100,000 and a jump into double digits in the rankings. "In some ways, there will be less pressure now," he says. "The challengers are like the survival zone." A few more trips to the quarterfinals (or perhaps farther) and Voltchkov may even be able to stop mooching attire from his friends. —L. Jon Wertheim
U.S. Davis Cup
Team: John McEnroe's second act has hit another snag. When McEnroe, who retired from the ATP Tour in 1992, got the job of U.S. Davis Cup captain last September, no one -- least of all he -- envisioned it as a very difficult task. Both the world's hottest player, Andre Agassi, and the world's best, Pete Sampras, had committed to playing for him, which meant that McEnroe had polished off about 90% of his duties before the 2000 campaign had even begun. "I should've known better," McEnroe said last Friday. "Welcome to reality." It bites. Again. Facing a difficult tie, on clay against a strong Spanish team in Santander from July 21 to 23, McEnroe must contend once more with Sampras's delicate body and ego. It will be a high-profile test of McEnroe's leadership -- and a task at which the captain is not skilled. After Sampras tore 40% of his hip flexor at the Australian Open and pulled out of the first-round tie between the U.S. and Zimbabwe in February, McEnroe enraged him by suggesting that Sampras, who had redrawn his 2000 schedule to fit in Davis Cup, had never had any real interest in traveling to Africa. Sampras considered quitting the team but returned for the U.S.'s second-round win over the Czech Republic in Los Angeles in April and an uneasy coexistence with his captain. Sampras's availability -- and McEnroe's ability to secure it without alienating him -- is again in question. After suffering tendinitis in his left shin before his second-round win over Karol Kucera at Wimbledon, Sampras spent the remainder of the tournament's first week contending with the injury, which he called "a little bit painful." He said on Saturday, "I haven't thought much about Davis Cup." Considering his increasingly fragile body and the fact that clay is his worst surface, nobody would be surprised if Sampras opts out of the tie against Spain. "It's already happened once," McEnroe says. "Let's just say, from the first experience I learned something. I'm making sure a couple of people are available. We could field a team at least." The vise tightens further when you realize that Spain's Alex Corretja and Albert Costa, who pulled out before Wimbledon in a suspiciously timed protest against the seedings committee, and Juan Carlos Ferrero, who pulled out citing a back injury, have been practicing on clay ever since. McEnroe's options for singles include Agassi; Todd Martin, who pushed Agassi to the limit before losing to him 10-8 in the fifth set at Wimbledon; Jan-Michael Gambill, whose run to Wimbledon's quarterfinals represents his best Grand Slam result; and perhaps No. 48-ranked Chris Woodruff. In doubles there's the always intriguing (to McEnroe, at least) idea of the captain coming out of retirement. But when told last Friday that Martin had just declared, "That would hurt us more than help us," McEnroe backed off. Said the captain, "If a guy like Todd feels that way, I take it seriously, and it's best to leave it alone." He sounded as if he meant it, but with McEnroe you never know. Everyone involved, especially Sampras, will be waiting to hear what he says next.
Steffi Graf at
Wimbledon: When the match ended on Monday, she broke immediately for the gate under Court One, escorted by a security guard, moving fast among the fans as they reached out with paper, photos, books for her to sign. Steffi Graf grabbed a pen and scribbled but kept moving, her face wearing its usual slightly panicked expression. People waved, hoped to get a word. She kept going. "There she is!" men and women said over and over. There she is: tennis's greatest fan. Of all the oddities Wimbledon has inspired over the years -- including the streaker who broke onto the court during Anna Kournikova's doubles match on Monday with the words ONLY THE BALLS SHOULD BOUNCE emblazoned on his chest -- it is difficult to beat the sight of Graf, arguably the greatest woman player ever, sitting so passively in Andre Agassi's box. She wears a ring with a big diamond, though neither party will say if they are engaged. She claps every once in a while. "Did I think this is the place I'd be?" she said on Monday. "No, I never expected that." Yet a year after losing to Lindsay Davenport in her final Grand Slam match, Graf has thrown her life into supporting Agassi. She has let her endorsement deals with Adidas and Wilson languish, because she has no interest in meeting sponsors or signing autographs. She has done nothing to build a postplaying career: no TV, no commercials. "She's become a groupie," says a source close to Graf. "She wants to be around Andre but doesn't know what else she wants to do. It drives her crazy. You look at her during Andre's match: She looks like she's in agony -- like all groupies." Because of ligament damage to her left knee, Graf can't even work out or hit with Agassi. Always shy, she tries to think of ways to foil the photographers. During Agassi's changeovers at this year's Australian Open, she stood and turned her back to the court so no one could get a good shot of her. Her face remains dour throughout. "When you sit there, you know they always look to see how you react," Graf said on Monday. "So I'm always trying to be calm. I would prefer to be up in the stands and able to cheer and root the way I want to, but ..." But no, at 31, she can only sit. A competitor who could never stay still for 20 seconds, she bounces her leg up and down, up and down, the only visible sign of the energy that made her a champion. "It speaks volumes for her interest in my game," says Agassi. "If it wasn't for me, I doubt you'd see her in the stands." It is impossible to imagine Graf enjoying such an existence -- no action, no buzz, no winning. But ask if she is happy, and her face broadens into a giant smile for the first time in hours. "Yeah," she says. "I am. I certainly am."
Issue date: July 10, 2000
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