The Scoop: WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26

Just call Navratilova ‘Granny’
Henin-Hardenne needs shot of energy; Larry Scott still touted for WTA Tour CEO post

By Sandra Harwitt
tennisreporters.net

Martina Navratilova celebrates winning the '03 Australian Open mixed doubles title with Leander Paes

Siggi Bucher

FROM THE NASDAQ-100 OPEN IN MIAMI – Around the tennis pressrooms such as the NASDAQ-100 in Miami, Martina Navratilova is endearingly referred to as “Granny.”

That’s not surprising since the grand dame of tennis, who is still active in the doubles arena, is a ripe old 46-year-old. But advanced age was definitely not a factor when she teamed with 17-year-old Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia on Wednesday to knock out the top seeded team of Virginia Ruano Pascual and Paola Suarez 7-6, 6-7, 6-3.

“There’s a large age difference between me and anybody that I play with, darling,” said Navratilova, laughingly, when asked if the nearly 30-year age gap between her opponent and herself causes any problems.

“Age has nothing to do with it. It’s fun playing with somebody that young because I sort of think of how I was. You just get out there, play, have fun, feel no pressure, and you just blast away. We’re tennis players. I have more experience, obviously, than anybody out there. But still, sometimes Svetlana comes up with a great idea of what we should do. I’m like, ‘Oh, I didn’t think about that.’ And we do it and it works.”

Although she didn’t really want to see the age difference between herself and her much younger tennis peers in some respects, typical of Navratilova, she assessed the situation with brutal honesty. “I don’t feel out of place at all,” said Navratilova, who insists she is comfortable being the senior citizen of the women’s tour. “I don’t really think about it. It’s when I lay down and see my face sort of falling and wrinkles coming out and these kids, you know, these kids.

“I’m closer to menopause, and some of them, you know, don’t even have their period yet. So that’s pretty amazing when you think about it. … [Navratilova addresses the male reporters smilingly asking] Guys, am I making you uncomfortable.”

Navratilova has not only not tired of playing tennis but she’s also not tired of being heard loud and clear in the political arena of the sport. Navratilova made it clear that there needs to be some new restructuring for how things are run around the women’s game and noted that they’re really isn’t anyone representing the women players as they need to be represented.

“We don’t have a union, no,” Navratilova said. “If we had a union, that would be a whole new ball game out there. Because if you unionize, you say, ‘Okay, this is what we want.’ They’re going to have to listen because there’s only one set of players. There’s a whole bunch of promoters, there’s a whole bunch of sponsors, there’s all kinds of places we can play tournaments, but there’s only 10 players that are in the Top 10. There’s only one Serena Williams. You can’t substitute for her. Right now, I think the players need to somehow regain more of the power they had. They don’t have enough at all at the moment.”

Navratilova made history at the recent Australian Open when she captured the mixed doubles trophy with Leander Paes, the sole Grand Slam title in the singles, doubles, mixed doubles arena that she didn’t already own in an impressive collection of 18 singles, 31 doubles and seen mixed doubles honors at the four majors.

Henin-Hardenne needs shot of energy

Siggi Bucher

The Wednesday night quarterfinal between Justine Henin-Hardenne and Chanda Rubin was a telling example of how the Belgian’s game is going in the wrong direction. She looked flat and out of sorts in her 6-3, 6-2 loss to Rubin, who reentered the Top 10 at No. 10 for the first time since October 1996.
It was less than two years ago in 2001 that Henin was making a big name for herself – a semifinal berth at Roland Garros followed by a final spot at Wimbledon.

This was hardly the player we watched go down 5-1 in the first set before making a bit of a stab at rubbing Rubin the wrong way. That effort only led to her winning the seventh and eighth games of the first set.

The second set was even more pathetic for the Belgian.

After taking a 2-1 lead, Henin lost the next five games to lose the match and only one six points in those five games.

While she did win the Dubai tournament last month, Henin has to shore up her game and buckle down or she’s going to find herself on the wrong side of the Top 10.

Larry Scott still touted for WTA Tour CEO post
While the WTA Tour is holding firm in not announcing ATP Tour No. 2 Larry Scott is moving tennis tours to become the No. 1 hotshot at the WTA Tour, the buzz seems to be all around the NASDAQ-100 Open.
The latest person to weigh in on the matter is a highly situated NASDAQ-100 official who confirmed he heard Scott is the man who will take over the WTA Tour helm.

Apparently, Scott was given the nod quite early on the proceedings, but finances have been an issue. Supposedly, the word is that the WTA Tour initially offered Scott quite a bit less than the more than $600,000 he makes at the ATP.