TENNIS / THOMAS BONK : One Year Later, Grossman Is Growing on Her Own

Since she was 4 1/2, Ann Grossman and her father, Bill, had sort of an arrangement. Ann would play tennis and Bill would coach. Ann would get angry and emotional and laugh, Bill would get angry and emotional and laugh. Ann was just like her dad.

When they weren’t playing tennis, they would be riding horses with Ann’s sister, Kelley. But mostly, they played tennis, and Ann began to excel. At 14, she was an Ohio High School state and regional champion.

In 1987, she swept the U.S. Tennis Assn. junior events, won the nationals, the grass-court championships and the clay-court championships.

Bill’s coaching and Ann’s talent made for a pretty good combination, and Ann turned pro in 1989. She made her way in the rankings from 378 to 50, and at 20, her future was bright. Bill was ecstatic and Ann was established.

Then came the Lipton tournament early last March when Ann played one match. She isn’t playing the Lipton this year. She plans instead to be back in Ohio riding Sonny Dee Maude, the quarter horse she and Kelly recently bought.

Tennis isn’t what Ann Grossman wants to think about right now. “I’d probably wind up tanking just to get out of there,” she said.

At the Lipton event almost one year ago, she walked off the court after winning her first-round match, called home to Grove City and learned her father had died.

Bill Grossman, 51, died of cancer after a short illness, and in the year since his death, Ann discovered something new and surprising. Herself.

“I’ve really grown up fast since I lost him,” said Grossman, 21. “It’s really weird. I feel so much different on and off the court.

“I look at things so differently. If I lose, it’s not the end of the world. I used to be just a terrible, terrible loser. Now, I’m so thankful for what I have and what my dad gave me.

“I just have to be thankful that at least I had a dad who cared for me and spent so much time. I’m sure there are some parents who don’t even have time to look at their kids, much less talk to them.”

Even though Grossman knew her father was gravely ill, she had refused to believe what would happen.

“I didn’t believe my dad was going to die. I just didn’t,” she said. “So afterward, I was just so emotionally screwed up. I was just going through the motions. I was just so frustrated inside. Now, I know how I felt. . . . I just wanted to talk to him and he wasn’t there.

“Last year was just the worst year of my life, a roller coaster that kept going down.”

Grossman’s tennis suffered. She lost 18 of 40 matches, lost in the first round of the Australian Open and U.S. Open and the second round of Wimbledon. She was an emotional wreck.

But then, she began to pull out of it. Ann would not bring her father with her on the court, but she would think about him the night before and--at Billie Jean King’s urging--keep a diary.

“I can feel myself letting him go,” she said. “Hopefully, this will let me go on and become the player I want to be.”

Grossman reached the semifinals of the $350,000 Matrix Essentials Evert Cup at Hyatt Grand Champions. Even though she lost to Conchita Martinez, Grossman felt like she had made a breakthrough.

After the match, she glanced upward. She said she felt her father was watching. On Monday, she will fly home and throw a saddle on Sonny Dee Maude. She will not think about Lipton. She probably will think a lot about her father. Maybe she even will allow herself a smile.

“Once you start understanding yourself, then you can be a different person,” she said.

And now for some bests. . . .

Best excuse: From Conchita Martinez, who received a warning for an audible obscenity: “All I said was wah wah wah.”

Best wardrobe: Fred Stolle, appearing at the ATP seniors’ draw, wore a purple shirt with purple shorts, which caused no small amount of laughter from his peers.

“Andre (Agassi) sent them to me,” Stolle said.

Best partner: From Davis Cup doubles specialist Rick Leach about John McEnroe: “It was almost like playing with God.”

And some other things. . .

New address: Michael Chang is leaving Orange County, where his family still has homes in Placentia and Coto de Caza, and moving to . . . Nevada? The Chang family, consisting of dad Joe, mother Betty and son Carl, are relocating to Henderson, Nev., probably by the end of the year. The new Chang base of operations will be the Green Valley Fitness Club.

Grudge match: Who will have the last word if Jimmy Connors beats Cristiano Caratti and meets Michael Stich in the second round of the Newsweek? Three weeks ago in Memphis, it was Connors, who not only beat Stich, but also made him angry.

A testy Stich charged that Connors had manipulated the crowd and suggested that Connors belonged on another tour. Connors was hardly speechless. He suggested that Stich didn’t have a shot except for a serve and also that Stich couldn’t carry a tour without a suitcase. Stay tuned.