Tennis/ Thomas Bonk : Mandlikova Returns With Fresh Outlook

The old Hana Mandlikova won 4 Grand Slam tournaments, was once ranked No. 3 in the world and was terribly unhappy.

The new Hana Mandlikova has a new ranking, a new coach, a new outlook and a new marital status. Now, after taking 6 months off to improve her health, both physical and mental, Mandlikova has returned to the sport that drove her away.

“I am just fresh and eager and I have my heart in it,” she said. “If my head is not there, my heart is not there.”

The responsibility for Mandlikova’s head falls upon Mike Estep, her new coach. Estep, who gained fame coaching Martina Navratilova during her greatest years, replaces Betty Stove.

In addition to revamping Mandlikova’s tennis game, Estep is supposed to provide a steadying influence for her, an area in which Stove had only mixed results.

Estep said he is already encouraged with Mandlikova’s progress.

“You can see that the sparks in her eyes are back,” he said.

Mandlikova, who began 1989 at No. 29 in the rankings, decided it was time to make some changes late last year. First, she hired Estep, signing him to a 1-year contract, then got a divorce from Jan Sedlak, a Czechoslovakian-born Australian, as she is, after 2 1/2 years of marriage.

Mandlikova, who won the Australian Open in 1987, did not make it past the semifinals of any tournament in 1988. After Wimbledon, where she lost in the third round, Mandlikova took the remainder of the year off, not only to ease nagging hamstring problems, but also because she was miserable.

It was Stove’s decision to bow out, so she suggested that Mandlikova contact Estep. The first thing Estep did was to bring Mandlikova to his home in Ft. Worth for 3 weeks.

Estep said that Mandlikova impressed him with her commitment to work.

“Her desire is obviously there,” he said. “She’s just trying to get her game there, too.”

A month short of her 27th birthday, Mandlikova said that breaking with Stove was extremely difficult.

“After 8 years, it was not easy because she knew me since I was a little girl, basically. But she said it was time to make a change because I had taken everything out of her.”

Mandlikova played her first 1989 tournament at Brisbane, Australia, and lost in the first round. Estep was not deterred. Mandlikova has entered the $250,000 Virginia Slims of Indian Wells, March 6-12, at Hyatt Grand Champions, where she may run up against Chris Evert or Pam Shriver, or any other of her old rivals left over from her days at the top.

Before there was a Steffi Graf or a Gabriela Sabatini on the tour, there was a Hana Mandlikova playing--and occasionally beating--Evert and Navratilova and Shriver.

Even then, however, Mandlikova had a reputation as someone who played the game with a fragile psychology. Her appearance and unsmiling demeanor often put people off, such as her habit of not washing her hair until she was put out of a tournament.

Those days are gone, Mandlikova said.

“I am more mature, that’s purely natural, no?” she said. “I now don’t think that tennis is everything. Tennis can make a great living, you can win a couple of great championships, but it’s not life.”

She has won 2 Australian Opens, the French Open and the U.S. Open. Yet now, Mandlikova’s top 10 ranking is missing. Will she ever get it back?

“I think so, but there are no guarantees,” Estep said. “No matter what you did in the past, there are no guarantees about the future.”

In the meantime, Mandlikova has retained her Australian citizenship and is busy writing a book, often aboard her new boat, Mandulka Prague, at her home in Sanctuary Cove, north of Sydney.

Her book will tell the story of her life, Mandlikova said.

“I am not a detective writer, although my life might need someone like that to tell it,” she said.

With 256 players, men and women, playing singles at the Australian Open, there have been many stories to tell.

Some have been told. Fortunately, many others have not.

It’s the year’s first Grand Slam event and it has become clear that many players are not quite in form when it comes to talking.

So in the interest of journalism, here are the absolute worst quotes of the week. And remember this: If the answers were this bad, think what the questions were like.

“It’s something new where he is, and I have been before where I am right now, even though I got there from the same place.”

--Ivan Lendl, No. 2, talking about Mats Wilander, No. 1. That line should have been in “Who’s on First?” “The most important thing is just play the match and just try your best and whatever happens, happens.”

--Jakob Hlasek after losing his first-round match. Apparently, the fat lady had already sung. “A win is a win.”

--Mark Woodforde, after defeating Yannick Noah. This is startling information. Does this mean that a loss is now a loss? “It was a very average match, very inconsistent, very difficult to play out there, very negative toward my ground strokes.”

--John Frawley after he had actually won against Glenn Michibata. If Frawley had lost, they would be dragging the Yarra River for him right now. “I took a leaf out of Mark’s book.”

--Darren Cahill after winning a 5-set match similar to Woodforde’s. Mark must have taken a page off Darren’s tree first. “I think I have to play more harder and I think the next time I can play better.”

--Conchita Martinez after losing to Gabriela Sabatini. No comment. “It’s a long season, anything can happen.”

--Steffi Graf commenting on 1989. See Hlasek. “I was a little nervous.”

--Gabriela Sabatini. “I’m a little nervous.”

--Aaron Krickstein. “I was a little nervous.”

--Zina Garrison. Settle down, everybody. Just try your best, because a win is a win. And as we all know, it’s a long season.

Lori McNeil and Stephanie Rehe join Mandlikova, Evert and Shriver as entries in the $250,000 Virginia Slims of Indian Wells.

Rehe is from Highland, Calif., is ranked 14th in the world and earned more than $180,000 in prize money last year, her best on the tour.

Tennis Notes

A pro tournament for players 35 and older will be played in Santa Barbara March 31-April 2, with proceeds going to the Channel Islands YMCA. Already signed are Marty Riessen, Sandy Mayer, Bob Lutz and Roscoe Tanner. To qualify for the $50,000 Grand Champion Cup of Santa Barbara, players must have won $1 million in their careers, played Davis Cup for their countries, been top-ranked in their countries for a year, and won national titles. The tournament will be televised by Prime Ticket. . . . A dedication ceremony for UC Irvine’s new 500-seat tennis stadium was held Saturday before the Anteaters’ men’s match against UC Santa Barbara. The stadium was financed by donations from the program’s supporters.