THE SCOOP: SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5

Legendary coach Lansdorp on Sampras, Davenport, Myskina, etc.
Mac and Mats fizzle in Atlanta

By Matthew Cronin and Ron Cioffi
tennisreporters.net

Susan Mullane Camerawork USA, Inc.

Coaching legend Robert Lansdorp's hands are full these days, working with the likes of No. 12 ranked Anastasia Myskina and phenom Maria Sharapova, but he still found time to break down the game of another notable player he has worked with on occasional – 14-time Grand Slam champion Pete Sampras.

Before Sampras' US Open final against Andre Agassi, Lansdorp had a good idea of who was going to win the match. "I remember a few years ago when Andre was
beating everyone and he went out to play Pete and Pete destroyed him," he said. "I asked Pete, 'How did that happen? Andre's been playing so great.' Pete told me, 'Because Andre knows that I'm better than him.'"

Before Sampras won the Open, Lansdorp sent him a videotape with some pointers as to how to fix his then shaky groundstrokes.

"I knew what was wrong, " Lansdorp said. "His was following though too high on his 'reverse' forehand [which is his term for a running forehand when the player finishes the stroke with his racket behind his head]. His contact point is a little late already so if he is trying to drive the ball, he needs to have a lower follow through so when he uses topspin, the balls don't sit up."

Lansdorp says that Sampras isn't the only player with a "reverse forehand" as a weapon, adding Jennifer Capriati and Steffi Graf to the list.

Lansdorp – Tracy Austin and Lindsay Davenport's former tutor – is been very pleased with his work with Myskina, who has jumped from No. 59 at the year's outset to No. 12 this week. The Russian came to Lansdorp's place of business at the South Bay Tennis Center in Torrance, Ca. earlier this year, looking to step up her game.

Susan Mullane Camerawork USA, Inc.

"She had great timing and feel with the ball, is fairly quick and can get herself into a good position," Lansdorp said. "She's so coachable and really listens. She had a pretty good flat backhand down the line, but had no forehand crosscourt. She needed more pace and power on her shots. So we started working with targets and making her more aggressive all around. She was playing too defensively. Once she started stepping into the court more and returning serve more aggressively, she got a lot better. Her problem is that sometimes she tends to lose to players she has no business losing to."

Lansdorp isn't sure whether Myskina can crack the top five, which is a very elite group of players that contains the Williamses and Capriati in the top three and mixes in and out Monica Seles, Amelie Mauresmo, Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin. But Myskina took down Clijsters in the Leipzig semis last week and her coach is willing to give herself a shot.

"She's the first player I've had who came to me after the juniors who I've been able to really help," he said of the 21-year-old. "But to get to the top five is very difficult. There you need to be consistently powerful. She definitely needs to improve her first serve and volleys, which were horrible when I first started working with her. And to be No. 1? Who's going to beat Serena now? You have to play unbelievably well to beat her. She has it all."

THE LOWDOWN ON LINDSAY
Lansdorp is no longer working with Davenport (who is coached by Robert Van't Hoff), but still follows her career closely. He says that he's very happy with the progress that she's made since coming back from knee surgery in July. However, he isn't sure whether she'll be able to regain the No. 1 ranking from Serena.

"I don't always agree with analysts who think that every player should come to net more, but in Lindsay's case, she should," he said. "She's a great volleyer with very good feel who'd be better off shortening some points at net against someone like Serena, rather than trying to run with her corner to corner."

On Thursday, Lansdorp heard from another one of his students, the much-publicized Russian 15-year-old Maria Sharapova, who just lost a tough three-setter to Emmanuelle Gagliardi in Tokyo. "She was upset with her play in the tiebreaker, but I was a little concerned about that match because Gagliardi is a crafty player," Lansdorp said. "Maria needs more experience, but the age-eligibility rule is really limiting her from getting it."

EYE-POPPING JUNIORS
Lansdorp mentioned two juniors he's been working with: 9-year-old Chinese-American Daniel Ho, who's currently living in Shanghai, and Daniela Novakova, a 17-year-old from the Czech Republic. Lansdorp says that Ho "is the best nine-year-old I've ever see. He's so talented that he can already hit every shot in the book."

He says that Novakova plays like a "little" Myskina. Lansdorp recalled, "The first day she and her father came out to hit with me, she asked, 'How many balls do you have in your basket? I said 400 to 500. I asked how many they usually played with. She said 20. Then it dawned on me, these Eastern kids develop steady games at such a young age because they don't want to waste balls. Who wants to be picking up balls every five minutes?"

Mac and Mats fizzle in Atlanta
Even the top seniors John McEnroe and Mats Wilander can't stir the near comatose Atlanta market.

A charity match between the two seniors scheduled for next week was postponed due to lack of corporate support and ticket buyers. No date for the Miracle Match Foundation exhibition to aid in the fight against leukemia was given.

Atlanta, the burgeoning metro area boasting more than 80,000 recreational tennis players, has lost both its professional tour stops and couldn't support a senior tour tournament last year.