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Agassi says he won't support boycott
HAMBURG, Germany (Reuters) -- Andre Agassi says he would not support any boycott of this year's Wimbledon championships by clay court players. A handful of clay court specialists, including world number one Gustavo Kuerten, have threatened a boycott unless Wimbledon organizers change the seeding system. But Agassi, only the fifth man to win all four Grand Slam titles, said on Wednesday: "I say seed me wherever you want and I am going to show up and try to win. "Stick me wherever you want in the draw and I am going to go out there and realize I have to beat seven players to win and what order they come in doesn't matter to me,." When asked about the possibility of a boycott, the 1992 Wimbledon champion said: "You know, I don't think that would be the best way to go about it. "I can say that I don't think it is necessary...I hope it won't come to that," he added after a 6-3 5-7 6-4 second round defeat to Fabrice Santoro at the Hamburg Masters. Spain's Alex Corretja and Albert Costa stayed away from last year's Wimbledon after they were not seeded for the grass court championships despite being high in the rankings. Kuerten said he would support any similar action this year. "If the players come to me and we say together we're not playing, we're not happy with this, I'm going to be the one who is going to vote in favor of that," Kuerten said after winning the final of the Tennis Masters event in Monte Carlo. "I don't think Wimbledon respects the players. What they do is not fair. It is the only tournament that does not seed from the entry system." Most top tennis tournaments seed players in line with the ATP Tour's entry system which ranks players according to their performance over the previous 12 months. But Wimbledon has traditionally used a seeding committee because of the special demands of the fast surface. Faced with a revolt by top players, Wimbledon scrapped the committee last month. The grass court tournament will not, however, adhere strictly to ATP rankings when deciding seeds and its officials are still seeking a compromise to head off a possible boycott by clay court specialists.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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