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Filling the void in New York
Sports Illustrated staff writer Jon Wertheim will answer your tennis questions every Monday. Click here to send a question. A quick housekeeping note: The Hot List, I'm afraid to say, has gone by way of the Best of 14 rankings system, the Chase Championships and my beloved Colts' playoff hopes. Still, let's serve one last, emphatic Ad In to Gustavo Kuerten for the electrifying tennis he played last weekend in Lisbon. Anyone who saw him manhandle both Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi can attest that his top spot is well deserved. To the questions ...
Now that the women's tour has pulled the incredibly boneheaded -- boy, that's a surprise, tennis administrators being boneheads -- move of going to Germany for the year-ending tournament, what's the chance of the men coming back to New York? Isn't part of the reason tennis is in a down cycle because the sport keep moving tournaments out of where the real energy is, in America, or am I just a xenophobic, flag-waving, beer-swilling jerk? Or both?
If you're a flag-waving, beer-swilling American, plenty of players sit alongside you on the couch, watching the WWF, eating beef jerky and drinking Miller Lite. Ask the principals about moving the year-end event to Germany, and it's met with all the enthusiasm of a veggieburger stand at a NASCAR event. I wouldn't say the "real energy" is America. But for a tour that is trying desperately to market its players as transcendent stars, it was awfully convenient to hold the year-end in the nerve center that is Manhattan. The men are rotating the Masters Cup à la the Super Bowl -- a good idea that keeps it fresh and also lets the ATP gauge the interest in tennis in potential new markets -- so even if it comes to New York it won't be permanent. The more likely scenario is that IMG and Madison Square Garden join forces to stage a women's exhibition in New York late in the season.
Who do you think is the most erratic active tennis player? My picks are Thomas Enqvist, Alex Corretja, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Mary Pierce and Amelie Mauresmo.
Not bad. A half year ago Safin would have been a chart-topper, but things are obviously different now. By nature, the women are less erratic than the men, if only because there's less parity on the WTA Tour. Lindsay Davenport or Venus Williams could concede their opponents a 30-0 lead in every game and still reach the semis of most events. Good call on Pierce. She lost to a lucky loser named Germana DiNatale, never to be heard from again, in Rome. Then she came back to win the French Open. I'd also add Jiri Novak to the list. Here's a guy who's beaten all the top guns -- Sampras, Pat Rafter, Corretja, etc. -- this year but he's also lost to Gianluca Pozzi three times, the always-dangerous Lars Burgsmuller and Jared Palmer.
Please explain the disparity between men's and women's tennis in Sweden. The men's side has produced a steady stream of stars and competent journeymen for over 20 years. The only Swedish woman player of note in recent times was Catarina Lindqvist, who made the Wimbledon and Australian Open semis and had a good career. All we see now is Asa Carlsson and little else. I assume there is a state-run tennis school in Sweden; with the money in the game why aren't Swedish girls taking advantage? Meanwhile, poorer countries like Slovakia and the Czech Republic are rising. Any Swedish talent to look out for?
My first response is that Swedish women all play golf instead; check out the LPGA Tour sometime. My next is that you've raised a good question that I am ill equipped to answer. I get a lot of e-mail from Swedish readers. Can any of you help answer this riddle?
I've got a name for you: Roger Federer. I have seen him play a couple of times this year, and I have to say that I'm very impressed. He hits the ball a lot harder than his contemporaries (Lleyton Hewitt, Andreas Vinciguerra), he moves very well and he has beautiful shots from both sides. Among all the grey and faceless "New Balls" players, I think Federer is the real deal, just like Marat Safin. Do you think Federer can make the leap to the top 10 next year?
I like Federer a lot, too. He hits a very clean ball and, you're right, he moves efficiently. Top 10 next year might be pushing it. He's still inconsistent and he needs to become a better clay-courter. He got his clock cleaned 6-1, 6-1 by Sergi Bruguera -- never a good sign -- last spring in Barcelona. On the other hand, he should finish the year in the top 30, so with a few slight improvements he could make some noise. Also, he doesn't turn 20 until August, so I'd definitely put him on the short list of players to watch. Since you brought it up, let's give some props to the New Balls campaign. Sure, it might not have been the height of good taste. But it's hard to argue with the results. The slogan generated a fair amount of buzz (keep in mind, this is a tour that once thought using Seal's lyrics on its promos was pushing the envelope) and, for the most part, the players tapped have been playing well. Now, do you mind hopping next door and telling us what's up with Swedish women players?
Top five tennis players to win Big Brother? I wouldn't put money on Anna K, at least not if there were any other women in the house.
1) Byron Black
Big brothers all ...
I'm just wondering why there was zero U.S. media coverage of the recent fight between Martina Hingis and Anna Kournikova in Chile? It seems that for such a major blowup, the only logical reason is that they don't want to/can't expose the popular male-fan magnets, especially Anna. If Lindsay Davenport shoved a bouquet of flowers in Venus Williams' face, you can be sure it would be front-page news. Just because it is Anna? What a shame.
For those of you who missed it, Hingis and Kournikova were involved in some kind of a dustup last week after their exhibition in Chile. Details are still sketchy and reports vary. One has Kournikova shoving a nosegay in Hingis' face. The others say they just called each other a lot of naughty words in the locker room and then walked away. Regardless, the "logical reason" this has gotten so little play with U.S. media was not because of a machination to protect Kournikova. It is because it happened during an exhibition -- not a tour event -- in Chile. Trust me, if this had been at the U.S. Open (or even at a Tier III in Oklahoma City) there would be a scrum for the footage and interviews. As it is, I'm sure once both principals are back in the public eye, they'll be asked about it. (Kournikova, by the way, would choke on her Evian if she heard the suggestion that there was a media conspiracy to cover up her off-court doings.)
I am sure you will be a little biased in answering this, but do you think that tennis as a whole gets the respect it deserves from the media? Take Sports Illustrated for example: Steffi Graf wins the Golden Slam in '88 but is passed up for Sportsman of the Year for Orel Hershiser. She dominates tennis in 1996 yet Tiger Woods, who had done nothing that year, is picked for the award. Even when she retired, the most dominant tennis player in history was given a tiny write up in Scorecard. Even Sally Jenkins' article about tennis being dead in 1994 was irrelevant and, for the most part, silly. I would pick on other sports magazines, but let's face it, there really isn't another prominent sports magazine around. Do you think the problem is the lack of experienced reporters in the media (I doubt too many of them were junior players, let alone professional)? Or do you think that it is because of the attitude of North Americans toward tennis (it does seem to take a back seat in our culture to other sports)?
This question warrants a 5,000-, not a 500-, word response, but here are some scattered thoughts ... You've raised a chicken-and-egg question. Do media outlets like Sports Illustrated devote less attention to tennis because tennis' popularity is inferior and we are responding to the demands of the readership? Or is the sport waning in popularity in part because media coverage pales in comparison to that accorded other sports? You're right that I may be biased, but I say it's Option 1. Sports Illustrated goes to millions of readers, and I bet we don't get five letters this week complaining that we didn't cover the Masters Cup. You and I might gladly switch away from Week 14 NFL games to watch a breathtaking match between Kuerten and Agassi. But to the majority of tennis' casual fans, at least in the States, the professional game starts and ends with the Grand Slams. A minor point: I thought that Jenkins' article was extremely relevant. At the time, it helped spearhead a number of changes and cosmetic improvements. Six and a half years later, it's still cited within the sport. ... I tend to discount playing experience in a reporter's ability to cover a sport. We don't demand that film critics were once actors or music reviewers were once virtuosi. Why do we care if a tennis writer can or can't hit a kick serve? ... Easy on the Hershiser digs. ... Finally I'll let you in on a dirty little secret of sports journalism: The accessibility of the athletes has a not-insignificant bearing on the coverage. Tennis is one of the few sports where reporters can't approach the athletes on their own or go into the locker room before and after the games. Since you brought her up, Graf was notoriously inaccessible. When she releases her retirement announcement from rural Germany and isn't issuing further statements (much less willing to pose for pictures), it's hard to sell an editor on the eight-page farewell blowout she may objectively deserve.
In your discussion of Canadian men, you didn't mention Simon Larose. Just thought you should know. Keep up the good work.
Indeed I didn't mention Simon Larose. (Now that I write the name, didn't he used to be in Duran Duran?). And there was a reason. Your man is 24 years old and his highest ranking is No. 189. Say a prayer for him now. Don't save it till the morning after.
Click here to send a question or comment to Jon Wertheim's Tennis Mailbag.
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