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THE SCOOP: MONDAY, JUNE
24
Men’s year-end final heading
to Houston?
Wimbledon: steeped in tradition; Agassi
cops first-match honors; Blake’s first memories of Wimbledon;
Call Roddick’s sneakers “Fig Jam”
By
Sandra Harwitt
tennisreporters.net
Although the ink hasn’t dried
on any contract yet, expect an announcement during Wimbledon that
the men’s year-end Tennis Masters Cup will head to Houston
for a two-year period in 2003 and ’04.
An ATP Tour source told tennisreporters.net
that Houston is considered the front-runner to host the season-ending
final, although St. Petersburg, Russia is still in the running.
If it works out in Houston’s
favor, it will be the next tennis coup for the man they call “Mattress
Mac,” in Texas oil country. Jim McIngvale, the owner of the
Westside Tennis Club in Houston, not only hosts the only men’s
clay court event in the United States each year on his premises,
but this year made a successful bid to host the Davis Cup quarterfinal
tie on grass that the U.S. won over Spain in April.
Apparently, McIngvale is willing
to build a permanent outdoor site to host the year-end event, but
is insistent that to make the venture worthwhile, they’d have
to have a guarantee that the event will be staged for two years
in Houston.
Wimbledon:
steeped in tradition
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Fred
Mullane
Camerawork USA, Inc.
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The one constant about Wimbledon
is it is steeped in tradition. And Wimbledon tradition dictates
that on the opening Monday of this most prestigious of Grand Slams,
the men’s defending champion from last year will open the proceedings
on Centre Court the following year.
Unfortunately, tradition was not
going to hold in 2002 since defending champion Goran Ivanisevic,
who scored big in 2001 his fourth career appearance in the Wimbledon
final, was recuperating from shoulder surgery back home in Split,
Croatia
The All England Club invited Ivanisevic
and his parents to attend the opening day festivities this year
from a prime seat location – the Royal Box. While Goran decided
not to make the trip and to keep at his rehab routine at home, his
father, Srdjan, traveled to London to stand in for his son and take
advantage of the honored seating.
Tim Phillips, the Chairman of the
All England Club released a statement saying, “We all share
Goran’s disappointment that he could not be here in person,
but are delighted that his father will be here to represent him.”
Agassi cops
first-match honors
Acting as a replacement for the defending champion in the traditional
opening day slot was former Wimbledon titlist Andre Agassi, who
wasted little time securing a 6-0, 6-4, 6-4 win over Israeli Harel
Levy.
Agassi, who won his lone Wimbledon
trophy in 1992, made note of how exceptional an experience it is
to have the honor of playing the first match on Centre Court the
year following your victory at Wimbledon. He also revealed that
he was very much aware that he was just the understudy and that
Ivanisevic was missed.
“Yeah, I though we were going
to have a moment of silence for him or something, all kind of just
get still,” said the 32-year-old Agassi, smiling. “But
it’s too bad because that is a special part of winning, you
know, coming back. The year after I won, I was injured, was struggling,
I didn’t play the French. Probably, in hindsight, I shouldn’t
have even attempted to play here. But I just couldn’t help
wanting to go out there and experience defending, that feeling of
walking out there at that designated time which was 2:00 then.”
Ten years from when Agassi won his
first of seven Grand Slam trophies here, the significance of winning
this title has not diminished. And the American star is currently
the only active player on the men’s tour who has won all four
Grand Slams at some point in his career.
“It special for a lot of reasons,”
Agassi said. “I think this is certainly the greatest tournament
in the world. If you could only win one, you’d be crazy not
to pick this one. On top of that, it’s just a big accomplishment
for me to still be out here contending 10 years later. 1992 was
in the middle of my career, at least, I thought. So that’s
very special for me, too, to have that many chances and experiences
out there on Centre Court and to play Wimbledon.”
Blake’s
first memories of Wimbledon
For 22-year-old James Blake, his first memories of watching
Wimbledon religiously on TV was in 1996, the year that the Flying
Dutchman Richard Krajicek reigned over the All England Club.
Now that Blake earned his first
career singles victory in his first ever singles match at the Big
W, he heads into the second round where he will face Krajicek.
“Actually, probably, when I
first started getting into it, it was the year Krajicek won it,”
said Blake, after his abbreviated 6-2, 6-2 win over Mariano Zabaleta
of Argentina. “I followed tennis, but I hadn’t paid a
lot of attention to it before then. I watched him beat Sampras [in
the quarterfinals]. So it was just assumed in my head, you know,
Sampras had won it three years in a row, he’s going to win
it again, a foregone conclusion. … Then it was a final [against
Mal Washington] that Richard just played too good. He deserved to
win it that year. That’s the first year that really got me
excited about Wimbledon.”
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Susan
Mullane
Camerawork USA, Inc.
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It is likely that the match against
Krajicek could be a big test for Blake, but the fact that the Dutchman
has been on the sidelines for more than a year following right elbow
surgery in 2001, could give the American a bit of a break. Krajicek
also lost playing time in the late 90’s following two surgeries
on his left knee.
Krajicek addressed the fact that
a few other players born in the year 1971 have been subject to recent
troubles. Ivanisevic has just undergone shoulder surgery to correct
a long time problem. Sampras has had a few niggling injuries and
hasn’t won a trophy since winning his record 13th Grand Slam
title at Wimbledon in 2000. And Spaniard Sergi Bruguera, a two-time
French Open titlist, finally surrendered to physical frailties and
retired.
“Well, maybe it’s like
wine – you have good and bad years,” Krajicek said. “Maybe
we have, physically, a bad year somehow, ’71. But I think its
wear and tear…we’re all getting older. It’s a shame.”
Call Roddick’s
sneakers “Fig Jam”
Reebok plans to reveal a new sneaker that Andy Roddick will
be donning in the near future. The name of that new sneaker is slated
to be “Fig Jam,” which led to more than a few chuckles
from the Australian contingent at Wimbledon. Apparently, well-known
Aussie Rules Football player – Nathan Buckley – the captain
of the Collingwood team is nicknamed Fig Jam. And in case you’re
wondering what it all means, here’s the explanation –
“F--k I’m good … just ask me.”
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