Jordan Has Only the Past : Tennis: Knee injury clouds future, provides excuse when comeback stalls at 30 years of age.

Her right knee encased in a blue brace that stretched from mid-thigh to mid-calf, Kathy Jordan searches for something from the past.

At 30, after being sidelined two years because of injury, it’s not easy.

Once ranked No. 5 in the world and known as the principal tormentor of Chris Evert, Jordan no longer has a ranking. Her anterior cruciate ligament was torn in August of 1987.

Since then, Jordan has played only four matches, losing three. The latest was Monday when, as a wild-card entry, she lost to Isabelle Demongeot of France, 6-3, 2-6, 6-0, in the first round of the Virginia Slims of Indian Wells at Hyatt Grand Champions.

Jordan accepted the loss quietly, something she has been doing lately.

“It’s not easy making a comeback at 30 because then doubt sets in, like you . . . can’t play tennis anymore,” Jordan said. “Having an injury like mine puts doubts in your head about almost everything.

“It makes it easy to accept things on the court, like ‘Oh, I lost that point because of my knee.’ I have it in my brain--’My knee went out, my knee went out, my knee went out.’ ”

Jordan’s knee went out and rearranged her career. She has won more than $1.3 million in an 11-year career most notable for her doubles triumphs with Anne Smith and Liz Smylie, and also for an uncanny ability to upset Evert, whom she defeated three times in important events.

The biggest was in the third round at Wimbledon in 1983, when Jordan, at 23, defeated Evert in straight sets. It was the first time Evert failed to reach at least the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam event.

But Jordan soon began to have trouble with her knee. She had two partial tears of the anterior cruciate ligament, the main stabilizing ligament in the knee, before suffering a complete tear while playing in the Virginia Slims of New England.

“I basically had to accept that my career was over,” she said.

Jordan stayed on a rehabilitation program for a year before trying to get back on the court. She played just once last year, but decided to give her career one more chance.

“I’m giving myself this year to see how it goes,” Jordan said. “Only time will tell if I can still do it.

“At least I can say I have had certain matches when I did do it. Some people will never be able to say that, so I have to be proud.”

Against Demongeot, Jordan seemed slow, partly because her brace limited her lateral movement. Jordan said her doctors have said she can discard the brace, but she wears it for psychological reasons.

She can come back, Jordan said. Maybe not all the way back to No. 5, but possibly far enough to earn a place in the Wimbledon draw. For that reason, she continues to play, at least sometimes against herself.

“I think I’m just so slow, so I am slow,” Jordan said.

The Angelica Gavaldon bandwagon rolled onto the court Monday with the star of the show wearing large, silver hoop earrings and dressed in an ensemble of shocking pink.

If the 16-year-old from Coronado looked sharp, she played even sharper in her first-round match against Shaun Stafford. Gavaldon won, 6-0, 6-3.

Gavaldon, who reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open as an amateur, turned pro last week and reached the semifinals of the Virginia Slims of Oklahoma.