TENNIS / THOMAS BONK : Smith Breaks Party Line on Pasarell Issue

Rest assured there were major grumblings after comments last week by Gerry Smith, executive director of the Women’s Tennis Assn.

Speaking at an impromptu news conference during one of the many rain delays at the Virginia Slims of Palm Springs, Smith seemed to offer less-than-overwhelming support for the tournament.

The event is at Bono’s Racket Club for the first time, having moved from its former home at Hyatt Grand Champions in Indian Wells, where for the past two years it has been played the week before promoter Charlie Pasarell’s Newsweek Champions Cup, a men’s tournament.

The Virginia Slims of Palm Springs is competing with two men’s events at Grand Champions--an ATP Challenger and an ATP Senior Tour event, which Pasarell solicited after the women’s tournament moved.

In his comments, Smith, former Newsweek publisher, was sympathetic to Pasarell, unusual considering that the chief executive officer of women’s tennis might be expected to adhere strongly to the party line.

“We at the association and the players very much wanted to stay at Grand Champions,” Smith said. “We think it’s a first-class venue. It’s a terrific site, a great facility. I think we ought to be playing in a facility that’s first class.”

Smith added that tournament owner IMG and sponsor Virginia Slims had done the best they could in improving Bono’s but indicated that the efforts had fallen short.

“The unfortunate circumstance is that you have to compare it with what’s gone on down the road the last two years,” Smith said.

“I understand Charlie perfectly well. The difficulties that caused IMG to move 12 miles have some justification in my view. On the other hand, I see Charlie’s view, that he has built his professional tennis franchise in this marketplace. . . . To have (Virginia Slims) move down the road 12 miles and compete with him is an infringement of his rights.”

The Virginia Slims of Indian Wells lasted two years at Hyatt Grand Champions but left after a contract dispute between IMG and Pasarell.

“I’m not so sure it’s a legal infringement of his rights, but clearly there’s some ethical issues that should be addressed,” Smith said.

Captain’s log: Star date 1991. This is the voyage of the starship Seles, Monica that is, the 17-year-old Yugoslav transplant from Florida whose train of thought travels several tracks at once.

So far in her brief career, Seles has shown an uncanny ability to hit a ball that is extremely difficult to return and conduct conversation that is just as difficult to follow.

When asked early in the week what she and her family had done on their first visit to Palm Springs, Seles said:

“We just went to North Palm Canyon Drive a little bit and just looked around at stores. My mother got some clothes. This town looks a lot like Sarasota, actually. It looks like they have the same type of streets. They are called St. Armand’s Circle.

“Except it’s a little bigger. So it almost seems like home except there’s not as many things to do here probably. It’s still a great city, I think. We went yesterday up the tramway and we got to ride the mules. So that was a lot of fun.”

Kirk, over and out.

The new Andre: Andre Agassi’s revelation that he would make himself more available for interviews certainly won’t hurt his public relations, which have taken more than one bad turn in his neon career.

Agassi said the decision to open up with the media was his alone and reacted strongly to suggestions that Nike, his principal sponsor, had suggested he clean up his act.

“It’s just like on the court, sometimes umpires say, ‘Listen, start watching your mouth because you’re getting close to a warning’ and my response to them is . . . ‘If I cross the line and deserve a warning, give it to me,’ ” Agassi said.

“That’s one reason why I didn’t want to stay in school,” he said. “I hated the lectures, you know. And that’s my thing. If Nike called me and started going off about this, that and the other thing, ‘Listen if I’m good for your company keep me. If I’m not, get rid of me. You play no part in my life to start dictating how I handle myself.’ They know that. They don’t cross that line.”

From time to time, there have been rumors that Nike was unhappy with Agassi. But according to Ian Hamilton, Nike’s director of tennis promotions, the giant athletic shoe and clothing company knows on which side of the line to stay.

“We signed Andre because of who he is,” Hamilton said. “We knew who he was when he was 15 years old. We would never do anything with dictating the behavior of our athletes.”

Looking out for No. 1: As might be expected, Steffi Graf has paid some attention to Seles’ pursuit of her No. 1 ranking, which Graf has held for 185 consecutive weeks, but which she can lose this week if Seles wins at Palm Springs.

Graf seems resigned to the probability that, sooner or later, Seles will catch her.

“I’m very much aware of it,” Graf said. “She’s going to become No. 1. But I’ve been No. 1 for so long, it’s not difficult to accept. It’s not hard to deal with.”

Graf’s reign is unprecedented in tennis. Martina Navratilova held the No. 1 spot for 156 consecutive weeks and Jimmy Connors holds the men’s record with 159 consecutive weeks atop the computer rankings.

Next week, Graf returns to play the Virginia Slims of Florida, but Seles is not playing, which may mean the No. 1 spot will be at stake again.

“I think I can get it back,” Graf said.