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Return from the dead Agassi, Graf victories prove fans really care
Posted: Thursday October 14, 1999 08:50 PM
PARIS (AP) -- Tennis roared back to life just when it was looking so sickly, thanks to Andre Agassi, Steffi Graf and a pair of finals that will go down among the greatest finishes in Grand Slam history. The French Open, often the least exciting of the majors, gave tennis just what it needed: compelling matches, historic moments and champions who thrilled the crowds. There were so many tears from Agassi and Graf and Martina Hingis last weekend that Center Court looked like the kiss-and-cry area in figure skating. But these weren't crocodile tears. They flowed from years of emotional comebacks by Agassi and Graf, and a performance by Hingis in which she blew near-certain victory and was booed mercilessly. There was unwarranted cruelty in the French fans' treatment of Hingis in the women's final. Yes, Hingis complained about calls a little too much. And she played the part of the spoiled child when she didn't get her way, banging her racket on the court. But in January she made a cutting remark about Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo's homosexuality, and on Saturday she was beating the popular Graf for most of the first two sets. But Hingis is, after all, just 18 years old, and nothing she did deserved nonstop jeers. She wasn't John McEnroe cursing an umpire or throwing his racket across the court. She wasn't Jeff Tarango stomping away in midmatch or spitting at an umpire. Yet, the boos toward Hingis, juxtaposed with the roars and chants for Graf, made for grand theater. It meant the fans really cared. They showed they cared, too, for Agassi and the man he beat Sunday, Andrei Medvedev. The 24-year-old Ukrainian wooed them with his words of love for German player Anke Huber, and he won them over completely with a noble effort in a five-set loss to Agassi. One of the most wonderful moments in the match came near the end when fans came up with a chant for both players -- "A-GASS-EEE, MED-VE-DEV" -- the supporters of each equally loud. Tennis has been beset, in many places around the world, by indifference in recent years. Especially the men's game. Pete Sampras, perhaps the greatest player in history, is considered a bore. Never mind that he has produced some brilliant and emotional matches. Without someone like Agassi to play off in a genuine rivalry, Sampras remains an underappreciated genius. Now, with Agassi back on top of his game and promising to keep going, there's hope for a renewal of the duels he had with Sampras four years ago. That's exactly what men's tennis needs right now. The women's game needs only more of the same. It needs older players like Graf and Seles to reassert themselves -- the two longtime rivals waged a terrific clash in the semifinals -- and it needs the younger players like Hingis and Venus and Serena Williams and Anna Kournikova to get better and better. All that happened at the French.
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