TENNIS / JULIE CART : Stagnation Dominated Tour During Absence of Seles

Women’s tennis can’t seem to catch a break.

Without a sponsor for this year, the WTA tour turned down the one that did come courting, the manufacturers of Tampax tampons, out of squeamishness.

The sport’s stars have either dimmed or gone out. Martina Navratilova retired, Jennifer Capriati remains uninterested in returning to the game, Steffi Graf is nursing injures to mind and body. Then there is Monica Seles.

Her courageous and wildly successful return to the tour since she was attacked during a match 2 1/2 years ago should be nothing but positive p.r. for women’s tennis. But is it? How is it that a player absent from professional tennis for 28 months can dominate as Seles has, dropping not a set to win the first tournament she entered? What does that say about the depth of women’s tennis?

Of course, Seles is a remarkable player and a unique case. Last January, Graf was asked if she thought Seles was capable of coming back after such a prolonged absence. Graf said without hesitation that Seles, if anyone, would be able to come back. This was months before Seles gave any indication that she intended to return.

What has happened in Seles’ absence? Stagnation. Graf has dominated, with minor incursions from Arantxa Sanchez Vicario. In fact, with Seles out, Graf has been cruising along on grit and reputation as her back has disintegrated.

Players have for some time harbored quiet thoughts about Graf’s vulnerability. But her tremendous court presence intimidates all but the most bold. Only now that she has openly admitted her lack of confidence will Graf take the court with her prodigious talent alone to help her.

Men’s tennis is buoyed (and hyped) by the idea of a rivalry between Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi. Never mind that Sampras hasn’t held up his end of the bargain this season in terms of the rankings race. Should Seles and Graf develop a true rivalry, it would be wonderful for the women’s game.

But should Seles dominate, Graf fade and no other player rise to the fill the power vacuum, it would be another horrible blow, a reminder of the thin crust of top players.

Seles’ return is good news. That her return would raise the level of the game among the top players would be better news.

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Zina Garrison Jackson had intended to retire, telling everyone this was her last year, her last U.S. Open and that she and her husband wanted to start a family and devote more time to her charitable causes. What made Garrison Jackson change her mind? The counsel of the person she called “Mother Tennis,” Billie Jean King.

“Sometimes I think she is like this little angel that hangs over people,” Garrison Jackson said. “I had been telling her that I was confused. Billie just said, ‘Do whatever you believe, do what you want to do, not what other people want you to do.’ I said, ‘I don’t know if I want to retire. It’s driving me crazy.’

“One day I was extremely depressed. I had just been crying and crying. The phone rings and it’s Billie. She asked how I was and I said, ‘Fine,’ trying to sound like I wasn’t upset. She just kept asking. Finally, she told me, ‘Zina, you have to make the decision. You can’t go with what other people want you to do. You can’t worry about the media. You can’t worry about your husband, your family. You have to make the decision.’ I finally did.”

Garrison Jackson has been a fixture on the tennis tour and paved the way for a handful of African American players, although she is not fond of such distinctions. Yet, when she announced months ago that this was to be her last year, other players said they were sorry to see her go.

Thinking about it, Garrison Jackson felt the same way.

“I was wavering within myself about if I really wanted to give it up,” she said. “Reality hit when people started calling and wanted to come down to do interviews in Houston before the Open. I started getting very, very depressed because it is something I have been doing since I was 10 and I thought I could just give it up, walk away from it. I still love the game. I want to play some more and just kind of fade away.”

It’s not likely to happen in that fashion, given Garrison Jackson’s competitive nature.

“I am such a competitive person on and off the court,” she said. “I love being in the moment. I love when you reach down and get a shot, the feeling that you get. I always wondered why you see Magic Johnson, people like that, coming back. You might have a lot of things in your life, but [sports] is still a part of you that you really love.”

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Notes

The USTA pro satellite circuit will open its California segment Sept. 18 with a tournament at Rio Bravo in Bakersfield, followed by week-long events at Whittier Narrows Sept. 25, Anaheim Tennis Center Oct. 2 and the segment finale at UCLA the week of Oct. 9. Each tournament carries with it a $12,500 purse, plus important ATP tour points. . . . Perhaps the most impressive performance in the recent Mammoth Open was by B-Division player Tracey Fulford of Coto de Caza, who played 11 matches in five days at the 8,000-foot altitude event and won both the mixed and women’s doubles titles while being four months pregnant. . . . The Santa Monica Tennis championships are set for the weekend of Sept. 16-17 at Lincoln Park in Santa Monica.