As the pro tennis season winds down, Mr Ed pauses to consider some of the high points of the climactic weeks of the season. In Paris and Munich, Sébastien Grosjean and Serena Williams put their freshness to work against weary opponents. Lindsay Davenport ends the year as an almost apologetic number one, while no-one seems to want the men's number one crown. And outgoing CEO Bart McGuire appears to have left a poison pill as a gift to his poor successor.
Fresh legs down the stretch
As the players stagger down the stretch of a long season, the few athletes with fresh legs seem to have a leg up, as it were, on the opposition. This may well have been the case at the Tennis Masters Series - Paris and the Sanex Championships in Munich, where Sébastien Grosjean and Serena Williams rode deeper reserves of energy into their respective finals.
Sébastien Grosjean was laid low by an injury for two months during the summer hard court season. Returning to action at the U.S. Open, the undersized French star had failed to win two matches in a row until this week, when he finally put it all together in front of his home fans. Grosjean's energy level appeared decisive in his semifinal match against Tommy Haas. The German had been the hot man in the indoor season, notably winning the Tennis Masters Series - Stuttgart. But Haas was hampered with wrist
problems in Paris, and could not call up the needed resources to defeat his dynamic opponent.
Serena Williams, on the other hand, had been inactive for two months out of choice. Since her fine performance at the U.S.Open, where she was runner-up to sister Venus, Serena had been using the pretext of September's terrorist attacks in her homeland to withdraw from the autumnal tournaments, until this week. The wary Munich tournament organizers held their collective breath until Serena actually arrived in Munich. But arrive she did, and once in the Bavarian metropolis Serena showed that she meant bus
iness.
Sweeping past Silvia Farina Elia, Justine Hénin and Sandrine Testud without conceding a set, Serena Williams has been dominant, picking up where she left off from her fine performance at Flushing Meadow two months ago.
The races for number one
Lindsay Davenport, by reaching the final in Munich, has cut short Jennifer Capriati's brief reign at the top to claim the season-ending number one ranking. Davenport's key to success was her dominance in indoor events, where, pending her Munich final against Serena Williams, she has gone undefeated. Her record under the roof was 19-0, featuring titles in Tokyo, Stuttgart, Zurich and Linz, and wins over the likes of Hingis (twice), Hénin, Mauresmo, Capriati, Clijsters and Dokic (thrice). Add to that title
s in Scottsdale and Los Angeles (hard court) as well as Eastbourne (grass), and you have yourself an impressive year.
There are those who would point to Lindsay's lack of a Grand Slam title ? or even a final ? as a blot on her CV. Many would submit that Venus Williams, author of two major titles and the tour's best win-loss percentage, is the world's best player. Davenport herself does not argue that point. "I fully believe that Venus would be number one if she played more," Lindsay told the press almost apologetically after her accession to the throne. Indeed, Davenport was winless in three matches this year against
Venus. But as long as Venus refuses to expose herself to a full season of play (only 12 tournaments this year, compared to 17 for Davenport), we will never know if she has what it takes to be number one.
On the men's side, the expected race for number one fizzled in Paris. Reigning and current number one Gustavo Kuerten finally broke a five-match losing streak, the longest of his career, but lost in third round to Sjeng Schalken. U.S. Open champ Lleyton Hewitt, who is nipping at the Brazilian's heels, actually lost ground, losing his opening match to Nicolás Lapentti. And Andre Agassi, still with a chance to gain the number one ranking, preferred to stay home with his new wife and baby.
So it all will be settled at the Masters Cup in Sydney in two weeks' time. Who will come up with the goods?
Venus under the microscope
Outgoing WTA CEO Bart McGuire is not ending his mandate quietly.
Already frustrated by the dubious tournament withdrawals by Venus Williams, McGuire's patience reached its limits when Williams withdrew from the Sanex Championships this week, claiming "irritated wrists". McGuire dispatched an investigative team composed of two doctors and a lawyer (!) to Williams's Florida home to determine if there were indeed medical reasons for the American's withdrawal.
According to tennis writer Lisa Dillman of the Los Angeles Times, the Williams camp is confident that Venus will be absolved of any wrongdoing. Dillman noted that the Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion "has been troubled by both wrists, so much so that her racket manufacturer has been working on a solution to reduce the stress on her arms."
The odd part of the whole saga is that McGuire had been lenient to the point of coddling the Williams sisters when they withdrew suspiciously from events in the past, quietly fining them with what amounted to gentle slaps on the wrist. Now, with former Nike executive Kevin Wulff about to take over the WTA controls next year, McGuire finally gets tough in a way that might place egg all over the association's face.
Welcome to the job, Kevin!