One expects sanity to return

AFTER a "wild" Wimbledon where we saw a wild card crowned the champion for the first time in a Grand Slam tournament, one would expect sanity to return to the tennis world in the forthcoming U.S. Open Tennis Championships starting on 27th August. There are going to be a host of players who fancy their chances in the last Slam of the year. The Deco-Turf surface in New York favours both the attacking player as well as the counter-puncher.

Even though Pete Sampras has not won a title in close to 15 months, since 2000 Wimbledon to be precise, one cannot discount his chances in New York. Let us not forget that he is the record holder of 13 Grand Slam titles! And the first of these was won right at this same tournament 11 years ago.

Pete has had such outstanding success at Wimbledon that people might not remember that he was brought up on the hard courts in California. And up until the mid nineties when he had that magnificent run at Wimbledon, his record in the U.S. Open was much better.

But by the time the U.S. Open starts, Pete would have hit the magic age of 30. And the question, "How many more Grand Slams?" certainly arises. There is no denying the fact that he is past his playing peak. But that doesn't mean he is ready to be put to pasture. Even at the recent Wimbledon, he started as the favourite and in Pete's own words, he went from "being the favourite to being asked about his retirement" in the short span of one afternoon. (That is the way the Press is.) Nevertheless, the thought that he is not able to bring forth his best when it is most needed, must certainly be worrying him.

What happens to a player as he ages? Bill Tilden, one of the all time greats puts it succinctly - "The first sign of Old Man Time scoring on an athlete is in the legs. I first felt signs of this leg weariness coming on when I was about 30. It was not a great change; in fact there were many days when I did not notice it. But slowly, the days when I felt this leg weariness grew more frequent. Until I was 30, I was certain I could produce my best tennis, physically and mentally on any given day. But beyond that, I could only hit my peak a few times each year. This unreliability of perfect condition is the real menace".

Andre Agassi must surely count as a favourite for the U.S. Open in anybody's book. He is a two-time former champion in New York and speaking of age, he is a year older to Pete Sampras. But Andre still seems to be playing quite brilliantly. He won the Australian Open early this year and came very close to reaching the final at Wimbledon. But one thing going for Andre is that unlike Pete, his career has been more up and down. And in a perverse way, this means that he still has some unused energy left in reserve. Also, his relationship with Steffi Graf seems to have given new impetus to his tennis career.

Gustavo Kuerten is the other Grand Slam winner who will be in the reckoning. He is by far the best player in the world on clay courts. The Brazilian has been steadily improving on other surfaces also. Don't forget that he won the ATP year end championships last year indoors defeating Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi in the last two rounds. His chances will depend on how slow the courts at the U.S. Open are. (The playing surface is re-done every year and the speed could vary).

The Aussies, Pat Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt are definitely in with a chance. Pat Rafter is a two-time champion in New York. His kick serve followed by excellent coverage at the net are ideally suited for this tournament. While he has not been that consistent this year, Pat has saved his best for the big occasions. He was a semi-finalist at the Australian Open and a losing finalist at Wimbledon. He also seems to have started off well on the summer circuit reaching the final in the Canadian Open. But he is getting into this nasty habit of not crossing the final hurdle. Pat has been threatening to take some time off from the game at the end of this year. And that could well mean the end of winning Grand Slam titles. So, this could be his last chance.

His countryman, Lleyton Hewitt is one of the up and comers on the Tour. He has been touted as a Grand Slam champion and New York could well be his tournament. He is an extremely fit and gritty competitor and reached the semi-final last year. In fact, both Rafter and Hewitt tend to play better in the U.S. Open than in their native Australian Open. I just feel the hometown expectations weigh too much on them and they are more relaxed when playing away from home.

The Spaniards definitely deserve a mention. Alex Corretja and Juan Carlos Ferrero should spearhead the challenge. Spaniards are by and large masters in clay court tennis and this makes them extremely fit. But in recent times, they have been proving themselves on other surfaces also. Alex Corretja reached the final of this year's French Open Championships and Juan Carlos is still on his way up, much like Lleyton Hewitt. Both are well capable of doing some damage.

The French have also had a stellar year. Arnaud Clement was a losing finalist in the Australian Open, Sebastian Grosjean defeated Andre Agassi en route to reaching the French Open semi-final and Nicolas Escude defeated Lleyton Hewitt on his way to reaching the last eight at Wimbledon. The trio have helped France reach the semi- final of this year's Davis Cup competition which takes place two weekends after the U.S. Open. These three will have to fight it out for two singles spots and it could all depend on how they perform in New York.

I have got to the end of this piece even without mentioning the defending champion Marat Safin and his countryman, Yevgeny Kafelnikov. Both are extremely talented but very temperamental. Kafelnikov seems to be intent on making as much money as he can before calling it quits - hardly the attitude to go in to a Grand Slam with.

As far as the defending champ goes, he has not done anything much of significance this year. Andrei Medvedev, one of the top players in the world from Eastern Europe, on Safin's slump explained, "In former Soviet Union, you play good one year. Then you celebrate the next year. Then you play good next year."

If there is any validity to this analysis, we will have to wait till 2002 to see Marat Safin as a contender in major championships!