THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 9, 1996 TAG: 9609090125
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Bob Molinaro
LENGTH: 65 lines
The changing of the guard in pro tennis has been delayed until further notice.
Steffi Graf and Pete Sampras are where we are accustomed to seeing them, secure at No. 1 and in the winner's circle of a Grand Slam tournament.
As they captured their U.S. Open titles Sunday, each, we are told, was thinking of another: Sampras of his friend and coach Tim Gullikson, who died this spring of a brain tumor; Graf of her father, on trial in Germany for tax evasion.
The subtexts added a human dimension to the tournament, probably a good thing for tennis, which is struggling to expand its appeal beyond a niche audience.
No doubt, lovers of theatrics may be disappointed by the cool efficiency of Sampras' straight-sets title-match victory.
For some reason, the public has not warmed to the great American champion the way it has to Andre Agassi, the human neon sign and future Mr. Brooke Shields.
Even so, Sampras had to have won some more fans for himself and tennis with his four-hour quarterfinal victory over Spaniard Alex Corretja.
Self-promoter Jimmy Connors used to say that he left his blood and guts on the Open's stadium court. Sampras did him one better, leaving his lunch on the court in the fifth-set tiebreaker against Corretja.
Clearly, the Sampras-Corretja marathon was the match of the tournament, if not the year.
Sunday night, Sampras spared us the death scene from ``Carmen,'' and the only mopping up that was done was by Pete of the gallant but out-gunned Chang. Still, it was a great display of big-occasion tennis.
No matter who finally prevailed at Flushing Meadows, tennis was not about to provide any big surprises this year.
Technically speaking, a Chang victory over Sampras would have been an upset, but Chang has been a big name since 1989.
The same holds for Monica Seles, loser to Graf. Seles is just as well known as Graf, and probably better loved. If Graf wasn't No. 1, Seles would be.
For those of you at the country club who care about such things, Chang was playing Sunday for a shot at No. 1 in the world.
What does this tell us? Only that the computer crunches numbers better than it understands talent.
Speaking of machines, people are beginning to lose count of Graf's Grand Slam titles.
Another one adds to her legend. But you wonder if tennis fans will ever feel for her what they did for Chris Evert or even, at the end, for Martina Navratilova.
It's not that Graf wins too often. What makes her hard to warm up to is her cold, almost impatient approach to tennis. She seems to attack a match as if it were a homework assignment. Something to be done with.
Perhaps the only breakthrough performance of the tournament came from 15-year-old Swiss miss Martina Hingis. Despite losing to Graf in the semis, she opened a door to the game's future.
But for now, women's tennis is all about Seles and Graf. Overweight and with a bum serving shoulder, Seles is not up to the challenge of No. 1, though she remains the more sympathetic, colorful figure.
Monica seems to enjoy playing tennis, and being on stage, whereas Graf gives the impression she enjoys only winning.
Perhaps some day, after Graf has lost a big title match, and spilled her blood and guts on the court, we will discover that this is not true.
Assuming she ever loses. by CNB