Tennis : Teen-Agers Agassi, Sampras and Chang May Be U.S. Answers

The conversation started with a question about 16-year-old Pete Sampras of Rancho Palos Verdes and his tennis game, then it quickly got back to the old, familiar stuff . . . the quality of American men’s tennis.

Only this time, U.S. Davis Cup captain Tom Gorman brought it up, in effect, trying to dispose of the topic.

Gorman had just watched Sampras defeat No. 25-ranked Eliot Teltscher in straight sets Wednesday. Then, he ran into 17-year-old Andre Agassi, recent winner of the U.S. Indoors two weeks ago at Memphis, and promised to watch his match later in the day.

With these two players fresh in his mind, Gorman’s day started getting brighter. Maybe, even his laryngitis might start getting better.

“I think, Andre, along with a few other young guys, this kind of acknowledges, kind of answers a dead issue: What’s wrong with American tennis?” Gorman said.

It is an issue Gorman, for one, would like to see dead and buried . . . about 25 feet under.

Giving American tennis the best new shot has been Agassi. Now, with more than two years on the pro tour to his credit, Agassi is regarded as the leading player of the new wave.

“Andre has almost arrived, in a way, to the top,” Gorman said. “With Andre, all of a sudden he has gone from Stowe, Vt., two years ago to a very, very strong threat on the men’s tour. That (his victory in Memphis) was a major tournament win. And the way he did it was no fluke.”

Gorman didn’t get to see Sampras’ first round, in which the youngster saved five match points in a third-set tiebreaker against No. 37-ranked Ramesh Krishnan, but he saw enough against Teltscher.

So much that Gorman had to pause and think for several seconds when asked what he thought was Sampras’ biggest strength.

“His calmness,” Gorman said. “And his stroke production. That I’m impressed with.”

Also, he was suitably impressed by the way Sampras made the switch from a two-handed backhand to a one-handed backhand.

“And he just did it,” Gorman said. “That’s just the way he is. You can see he got that through his coaching; you have to give a lot of credit to the people that have been around him.”

UC Irvine Coach Greg Patton, on the other hand, didn’t pause for a second when asked about Sampras.

“It’s so hard to say if the guy is going to be a champion,” said Patton, who coached Sampras last summer on the Junior Davis Cup team. “But I’ve said it before, I think he’s going to be a world-class player.”

And, obviously, there are others who could make an impact eventually, the way Sampras made an impact here last week.

Not to be overlooked in any discussion about rising, young American players is, of course, 16-year-old Michael Chang.

“I’m impressed with his foot speed,” Patton said. “His groundies and his mental toughness. But I think his serve is going to be his Achilles’ heel. He’s a great counterpuncher. It’s like when he turns his back, and he knows you have a knife. Then, all of a sudden, you’re on the floor and the knife is at your throat.”

Patton had two-word descriptions for Chang, Sampras and another top junior, Jim Courier, saying:

“Jim Courier: The Athlete. Chang: The Workman. Sampras: The Artist. . . . All these young kids coming up. I’d like to adopt all of them.”

Yeah, and if they keep progressing so quickly, so would Tom Gorman . . . on his Davis Cup team.

Add Patton: His Anteaters have reached a No. 7 ranking in the country among collegiate men’s teams. This is the highest ranking in the history of UC Irvine’s tennis program. The Anteaters were ranked as high as No. 9 on two other occasions.

And, possibly Irvine could move up another spot after a recent win over sixth-ranked Michigan. Other significant victories have come over UCLA, California and Tennessee.

USC, which lost in the NCAA semifinals last year, has moved to No. 1, up two spots, after its victory in a recent team event at Louisville, Ky. LSU is second, Stanford and Georgia are tied for third and Pepperdine is fifth. Meanwhile, UCLA has slipped to No. 13.

Boris Becker has a new home, overlooking the golf course at PGA West, but he doesn’t plan on spending that much time in the greater Palm Springs area.

Why?

“I don’t want to make commercials for anything, but if you go there, it’s paradise,” he said. “It’s as simple as that. Even (Miloslav) Mecir likes it (Indian Wells). It’s just a place, I think, if you’re too much there, you lose control because it’s too nice. Too perfect.”

Stan Smith, who was named the USTA’s director of coaching for player development Wednesday, will assume the position April 1. Among his duties: supervising the national coaching staff that will manage regional training centers, selecting and accompanying the national teams, creating a scouting network and providing support for touring American players.

Evonne Goolagong Cawley, who won Wimbledon in 1971 and 1980, has been selected for induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. She will be the only inductee in 1988, a first for the Hall of Fame.

The induction ceremony for the 36-year-old Goolagong Cawley will be held July 9 in Newport, R.I., during the Hall of Fame Championships.