TENNIS / EVERT CUP : $1,000 Fine Adds to Shaun Stafford’s Frustration

The next time the WTA Tour Players’ Committee convenes to mete out justice on players’ code violations, at least one of the committee members will be absent, and thus will avoid a conflict.

Because she will be playing in the Pan American Games in Mar del Plata, Argentina, and not attending a committee meeting next month, Shaun Stafford will not be asked to vote on whether she deserves the $1,000 fine levied against her Tuesday for uttering an audible obscenity after having been warned.

No number of warnings could have quieted Stafford, who plays with her heart on her sleeve and her emotions on full boil. Naoko Sawamatsu’s steady and solid presence foiled Stafford and awarded the fifth-seeded Japanese the first-round match, 6-7 (7-5), 6-1, 6-2, at the $430,000 State Farm Evert Cup at the Hyatt Grand Champions Resort.

Sawamatsu’s on-court comportment could not be more different from Stafford’s, and the contrast made for the most compelling action during the 2 1/2-hour match. Sawamatsu, 21, ranked No. 16 in the world, is a study in composure and poker-faced concentration. Stafford, 26, ranked No. 60, is a scrapper who approaches every point as if it were a precious thing in serious danger.

Stafford, of Gainesville, Fla, began to get defiant in the first set, when she was warned by chair umpire Dessie Samuels for an audible obscenity.

Stafford admitted later that she had blurted out the “naughty” word, but noted that her other exclamations were more on the order of unintelligible screeches and screams.

“I’m a very emotional person,” Stafford said. “I’m fighting out there, fighting my guts out on every point. It’s not only frustration, it’s more like agony. I vent. I’m a human being. I don’t mean to come across as bad, but that’s just how I express myself.

“Naoko has got great behavior and I admire that. A lot of people think I don’t behave well on the court, but I’m human. I’m feisty. I do occasionally say bad words, but in this case I was about to say a bad word and I stopped myself.”

Samuels disagreed and charged Stafford a point penalty, which brought her to break point while serving at 2-3 in the third set. Sawamatsu capitalized, broke Stafford and won the next two games and the match

Stafford is appealing her fine.

Sawamatsu was more amused than disturbed by Stafford’s outbursts.

“When I was young, I played like Shaun,” Sawamatsu said.

Tennis Notes

Another seeded player lost as Elena Likhovtseva of Kazakhstan defeated sixth-seed Amy Frazier of Rochester Hills, Mich., 7-6 (7-4), 6-4. Rachel McQuillan of Australia defeated Marianne Werdel Witmeyer of Oceanside, 7-5, 2-6, 6-3. Eighth-seeded Mary Joe Fernandez of Miami defeated Sandra Cacic of Bradenton, Fla., 6-4. 6-0, and Patty Fendick of Tahoe Village, Nev., defeated Ginger Helgeson Nielsen of Alpine, Calif., 7-6 (7-2), 6-3.