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 A couple of young hotshots
Posted: Tuesday May 11, 1999 02:02 PM
Sports Illustrated staff writer Jon Wertheim will answer your tennis questions weekly. Click here to send a question. Lots of questions, so let's roll out the barrel ... What's your take on Jerome Golmard? He seems to be having a great year so
far. Could he be this year's Gustavo Kuerten (although Guga was lower-ranked
than Golmard when he won Roland
Garros)?
A semifinalist in Monte Carlo last weekend when he knocked off top-seeded Carlos Moya, Golmard is precisely the kind of solid player who can make some noise at the French. I like his game a lot: He hits a big serve, his lefty shots are hard to pick up, and he plays smart, conservative tennis. He doesn't have Kuerten's weapon, a wicked forehand, but he's definitely a player to watch at the next Slam. Steadily climbing the ranks -- he's now a career-high No. 22 -- the 25-year-old Frenchman is one of the better all-court players on tour. I assume he grew up on clay, but he made the semifinals of Nottingham (a grass-court event) last year, made the quarters in Cincinnati after beating Moya, and lists Rebound Ace as his favorite surface. What do you think of this new sensation from Down Under, Jelena Dokic? Her
impressive victory against Arantxa Sánchez Vicario at the Hopman Cup
surprised everyone, including myself. Does she possess the potential to become a
great champion? Or is she another candidate for this malady known as Capriati
Syndrome?
Far be it from me to pass Go. OK, that was lame. But I couldn't resist. By all accounts, Dokic is real-deal material. She's barely ranked in the top 200, but I guarantee that will change drastically by year's end. Having recently turned 16, Dokic beat Barbara Schett, a top-20 player, in last week's Fed Cup match against Austria. And as you mention, she's already beaten Sánchez Vicario as well as Sandrine Testud. No less than John Newcombe has already proclaimed Dokic, who moved from her native Yugoslavia to Australia when she was 10, as the country's best teenage prospect. The rare prodigy who is praised less for her power than her unflappable demeanor, Dokic is unlikely to go by way of Jennifer Capriati. I know the Aussies are steaming mad about the Davis Cup quarterfinal tie
being held in Boston, but what's your take on possible threats to boycott the
whole tie? John Newcombe said, "The way the guys are feeling at the moment,
they're saying, 'The Americans can have their centenary match on their own.' I'm
not saying the situation would escalate into a boycott, I'm saying it
could." When was the decision made to hold the tie in the U.S.? I think the
Aussies will get home-court advantage the next two times, but was anything else
offered to the Aussie team as compensation? A choice of court?
Ball?
Last week a reader wondered whether the U.S. was playing bully when it moved the Fed Cup match from Croatia to North Carolina. Given the absence of NATO air raids over Australia, I'd say the site of the Davis Cup is a more egregious example of Yankee browbeating. Essentially, it was preordained that the July tie would be held in Brookline, Mass., site of the original Davis Cup match 100 years ago. Of course, this means that only one of the U.S.'s past five ties will be on foreign soil. The Aussies won't boycott the event, but it seems to me they have a right to be steamed. Your suggestion, however, noble as it is, assumes too much sportsmanship. Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi will sing the National Anthem a capella at the opening ceremonies before the U.S. lets Newcombe and mates pick the surface. Just like every good Briton, I follow the careers of Tim Henman and Greg
Rusedski with great interest. Which of the two do you think will be the more
successful player? Although I think Henman is the better player, I think
Rusedski is more mentally tough and will have more key
wins.
I wouldn't describe either as "mentally tough," but I'm inclined to disagree with you. For my money, Henman is the better player. He doesn't have Rusedski's serve -- few, of course, do -- but he plays through points better, he returns better, and plays smarter tennis. As far as key wins, I'd look no farther than a few weeks ago. In a must-win Davis Cup match against Todd Martin, Henman rose to the occasion. In the winner-takes-all showdown that followed, Rusedski fell to Jim Courier, an inferior player at this stage in their careers, in a five-set marathon. If you're still not convinced, Henman started the year with a 4-4 record in career finals, while Rusedski was 7-9. As a bonus, here are two pieces of irrelevant trivia: 1) Either Rusedski or Henman, to the home folks' delight, is capable of winning Wimbledon. But don't expect them to do much damage at the French. Between them, they've lost their last six matches at Roland Garros. 2) Henman and Rusedski share the same birthday, Sept. 6. Rusedski, born in 1973, is a year older. Having seen Jan-Michael Gambill play very well indeed and with eagerness and
energy, including wins over Agassi and other stars, I still have to wonder if he
has already peaked, or do you think he may have room to grow into a top player
before too
long?
Jan-Michael is one of those (rare) tennis players you can't help but root for. Generally overlooked by the junior tennis poohbahs, he emerged from obscurity (and from Spokane, Wash., something less than a tennis hotbed) to become a big-time player. He looks like a cocky high-school quarterback, but he's in fact one of the most down-to-earth players on tour, an admitted "homebody" who stills lives with his parents, loves to watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer and never refuses an autograph request. You're right about his game, too: He plays with "eagerness and energy" and derives little satisfaction from playing well if he doesn't also win. All that said, if Gambill hasn't peaked, I'm skeptical that he'll reach that Nos. 15-25 level, much less the top 10. Notwithstanding a first-rate serve, his game is pretty unremarkable and I've noticed that when he gets in trouble, he doesn't have much of a Plan B. What's more, you'd have to look long and hard to find a male player over the past two decades who's hit two-handed off both wings and has enjoyed anything more than marginal success. Now that the clay-court season is upon us, I remember a young South American
named Roberto Carretero who came out of nowhere to win the Super 9 at Hamburg.
Anyway, Roberto pulled some big upsets in the process, and tennis experts were
singing his praises as an up-and-comer. But that was the last I've heard of him.
Did I just dream all of this? If not, do you have any further information on
him?
Wow. Good memory. Carretero -- who hails from Spain, by the way -- might just be the biggest one-hit wonder in tennis history. In 1996, he emerged from the qualifying draw and ran the table at the Hamburg Super 9. Anointed as the next member of the Spanish Armada, he completely fell to pieces thereafter. He won precisely one match the rest of the year, and after failing to defend his Hamburg points in 1997 his ranking plummeted from No. 84 to No. 334 in one day. Addled by injuries and broken spirit, he slogged through the next few years, playing satellites and qualifying draws. Currently ranked No. 443, it's only in the "Where-are-they-now?" context that his name surfaces. What happened to the Virginia Slims Legends tour? Will there be any play
during 1999? If so, who and
where?
As far as I've heard, after four years of qualified success the tour died a quiet death last fall. That's the bad news. The good news is that Steffi Graf has already said that when she's through with the WTA Tour, she wouldn't mind renewing her rivalry with Chris and Martina on the Legends circuit. Therein, by the way, lies the problem with the tour. If Chris, Billie Jean King and Martina are in the field, everyone goes home happy. If, however, Chris decides to be on mommy duty that weekend or BJK is pre-occupied with Fed Cup administrating, its an ugly scene. The definition of a hardcore tennis fan is someone willing to sit through a Wendy Turnbull-Betty Stove match. I am a sophomore in college in Minnesota and I would like to work in the
tennis industry when I graduate. Do you have any tips or words of wisdom to pass
on?
Always wear sunscreen. Send a question to Jon Wertheim, and check back the beginning of each week to read more of his answers.
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