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by Ed Toombs In an attempt to take our minds away from the endless northern winter, ?Around The World? will focus on the hot tennis action in Latin America this week, while stopping as briefly as possible in Oklahoma City. Former world number one Marcelo Rios is out of action as a result of pre-season groin surgery, but his off- court activities continue to keep him in the news in South America. Just last year, photographs of Rios dancing provocatively with a sultry female in a Paris nightclub were published in a popular Chilean magazine, prompting his girl friend to leave him: she returned to him only after Rios made a tearful public apology during a press conference. In the latest installment of Marcelo?s Fabulous Adventures, the Chilean press reports that ?El Chino? is being sued by his long-time former personal trainer and former friend, Manuel Astorga. Relations between the two started deteriorating several moths ago when, in what appears to have been a little horseplay gone sour, Rios ran into Astorga in a parking lot at the exclusive Chilean resort of Puerto Velero, injuring his trainer?s leg. Then, in the beginning of February, the Chilean star shocked his trainer by informing him that his contract was not being renewed for this year. Jorge Rios, Marcelo?s father and public spokesman, said that Astorga?s unreasonable financial demands were at the root of his dismissal, and that it was unrelated to the parking lot mishap and its aftermath. But Astorga feels that the Rios clan was punishing him for speaking publicly about Marcelo?s responsibility for his injury. According to the Chilean newspaper La Tercera, Astorga is seeking compensation from Rios on the dual grounds of assault and wrongful dismissal. Astorga may have weakened his case, however, when he immediately started working with young German star Tommy Haas earlier this month at the Memphis tournament, a fact that appeared to indicate that his career was not set back very much by the incident with Rios. Oh yes, Rios also appears ready to make an appearance on that other court, the one with the net and all those funny lines on it. Next week he will make his return to the tour at his hometown tournament in Santiago, and reports from Chile indicate that he has appeared in excellent form during his public hitting sessions. Two young up-and-comers with big plans notched their first wins of their career on the main WTA and ATP tours this past week: Slovakia?s Daniela Hantuchova in Oklahoma City, and Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela in Mexico City. Hantuchova, a 16 year old native of Bratislava, is now based in the United States and is one of the more highly-touted new products of Nick Bollettieri?s infamous tennis academy in Florida. In Oklahoma last week, she earned her way into a main tour event for the first time (she had received a wild card in Bratislava last year and lost in the first round to Sabine Appelmans), and claimed her first-ever victory in the big show with a first-round triumph over a fellow qualifier, Shinobu Asagoe. As a junior, Hantuchova was known more for her doubles prowess. She won the US Open junior title last year alongside Iroda Tulyaganova, and was a sought-after partner of a succession of top junior players such as Kim Clijsters and Lourdes Domingues. As well, Daniela saw some action as a doubles player on her nation?s Fed Cup squad last year. Despite her tender age, it now appears that Hantuchova is ready to leave the juniors behind her and attack the big girls. She has already had some success at the Challenger level ? notably winning the Jackson (Mississippi) Challenger as a qualifier last year ? and at the 2000 Australian Open eschewed the junior event, preferring to play the qualifying event in the women?s draw. Chela, a 20-year-old native of Argentina, also broke into the win column for the first time this week. The beanpole from Buenos Aires (6?3?, 165 pounds, according to the ATP Web site) has had an extraordinary week in Mexico City, marching to the semifinals (as of this writing) after impressive wins over veteran Byron Black, 1997 French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten, and the young German who never met a consonant he didn?t like, Markus Hantschk. Chela, like Hantuchova, impressed on the Challenger circuit last year, winning tourneys in Salinas and Caracas. The Argentine newspaper Clarin reports that the young man possesses an excellent two-handed backhand. Interestingly, his coach is the father of the young Argentine pro Mariano Puerta, Ruben. The elder Puerta revealed to Clarin the main goal he has set for Juan Ignacio this year: to put some meat and muscle on those bones! ?This year we are going to work hard on his physique,? revealed Ruben Puerta, who was surely happy to see his son also reach the semis in Mexico City. To add some spice to the Mexican Open last week, the organizers decided to stage a women?s doubles exhibition tournament in parallel with the men?s event. It goes without saying that Anna Kournikova, teaming with veteran doubles ace Natasha Zvereva, was the main attraction. One jaded female journalist, covering the event for the Mexican newspaper La Jornada, commented that, what with the wolf-whistles and suggestive comments emanating from the crowd during Anna?s matches, one would have thought oneself to be at a table dance and not at a tennis match! Zvereva is one of the all-time great doubles players but her fashion statements tend to be somewhat anti- Kournikovaish: eccentric sunglasses and hair held together with combs constitute her usual look. Natasha was not totally forgotten by the crowd, however. Some fans amused themselves by calling out support to "Chilindrina", which is the name of a wacky character in a popular Mexican television comedy series whose hair is, well, held together with combs. One hopes that Natasha is not conversant with Mexican television fare and did not catch the slightly unflattering reference?. |