FRENCH OPEN NOTES : The Schoolgirl and the Graduate: a Study in Contrasts

How different are these two young stars of the women’s tennis tour?

Both are teen-agers, both are professionals, but Martina Hingis of Switzerland and Lindsay Davenport of Newport Beach have little else in common outside of their first-round French Open victories Wednesday.

Davenport, at No. 7 the top-seeded American here, defeated Min Tang of Hong Kong, 7-6 (7-4), 6-0. Hingis, No. 24, beat No. 23 Judith Wiesner of Austria, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5.

Hingis was hustled onto the WTA tour last fall having just turned 14, shortly before the rule increasing the minimum age for professionals was adopted. Hingis’ Czech-born mother left little doubt as to her aspirations for her daughter when she named the child after her former countrywoman, Martina Navratilova.

Davenport’s rise through the junior tennis ranks was met with loving indifference in her volleyball-obsessed family. She agreed with her parents’ demand that she complete high school before playing full time professionally.

Her graduation from high school was a rare enough event among WTA pros that this “feat” was mentioned frequently. The self-effacing teen-ager was embarrassed that her diploma made her a scholar in tennis circles.

“It’s not like millions of people don’t graduate from high school every year,” said Davenport, who turns 19 next Thursday.

Hingis may never graduate from high school. When not playing tennis, she attends a special school for athletes with unusual schedules. To the surprise of many, she made her Grand Slam debut in the Australian Open, which was thought to be too distant and time-consuming for a schoolgirl. She won her first match.

Hingis’ victory over Wiesner was cheered by French schoolchildren, who don’t attend classes on Wednesday afternoons. Her game has the technical skill of an adult with the impetuous choices of a child. She attacks the net. She shows no fear and little caution.

Hingis faced down three match points and blithely moved on. Her future in tennis will be limited more by her emotional maturation than by any physical limitation.

Davenport, whose physical gifts begin with the advantage of being 6 feet 2, is enjoying surprising success on clay. Thought to be too big and slow for the surface, she has won three of her four tournaments on clay. After winning at Strasbourg last week, she pronounced herself fully recovered from pneumonia and anemia.

“When I was sick, I really had time to think about tennis,” she said. “I decided to come back and have fun and not put pressure on myself. Whatever happens, happens. I’m pretty happy so far.”

For Davenport, who loves music and has many friends who don’t play tennis, happiness is possible outside tennis. For Hingis, who laments that she’s limited by new rules to 12 tournaments a season, happiness is tennis.