Fans Are Happier, but Players Hold Key to Eventual Success

From the fans’ point of view, last week’s two tournaments at Indian Wells were a great bargain and, mostly, a great success. It was one-stop shopping for men’s and women’s tennis, and if the grounds were a little crowded, it was worth it to see top players.

The possibility that the women’s tournament would be overshadowed by the men’s never came to pass. After the four top-seeded men lost in lackluster fashion, the women’s final between the No. 1 and No. 2 players on the tour seemed a nice change.

In fact, the televised women’s final got a better TV rating than the men’s, and the women’s-only first weekend sold out.

Tournament director Charlie Pasarell is understandably proud of his innovation, but the changes he’s talking about for next year had better include more practice courts or the idyllic situation might turn ugly.

The bottom line is, what matters is what the players think, for if top players don’t like the event, they won’t come, and if the top players take a pass, so will the fans.

Most players acknowledged the benefit the new format offered to the fans and most understood that changes were expected for the future. Still, players are ultimately selfish and the set-up made their lives more difficult.

The two No. 2 players in the world were lukewarm on the format.

Conchita Martinez: “Many people like it, many people don’t. My opinion is that I like women only because it’s not that complicated. The schedules are easy and you only have one schedule to worry about. Now, we have to split with the men, and sometimes it is not that easy.”

Pete Sampras: “It’s a little bit inconvenient, to tell you the truth. I haven’t really practiced that much. There aren’t really that many practice courts available. . . . I’d say it is a little bit congested. It is not quite as convenient as it has been; I think this site just isn’t big enough for two events.”

Whatever expansion Pasarell has in mind will mean more crowds. But no matter what fans want or need, he’d be wise to listen to the players, always the most critical consumers.

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Something is wrong with Andre Agassi, or maybe just different.

He looked awful and uninterested against Michael Chang in the semifinal of the Australian Open, a role he reprised last weekend against the same opponent. After that match against Chang at Indian Wells, Agassi chose not to meet with the media and was fined $1,000.

Agassi is getting frustrated. He worked harder than ever last year and, after winning the Australian Open, he had little to show for it in major events. He’s beginning to adopt Sampras’ world view--the only thing that matters is winning Grand Slam titles.

An argument can be made that Agassi had the best season last year, when all surfaces are factored in. He played more tournaments than most and made a pile of money. But he’s seeing now that it was a failed effort. Agassi wants to be remembered for being more than a hairstyle, and he’s coming to see that hard work means little if it doesn’t bring him the four major titles.

“I made a commitment to myself after last summer, where I was 26-0 going into the U.S. Open final [against Sampras], I would have given up all 26 of those matches to have my legs for the finals of that one match,” he said. “I won every tournament over the summer and got to the finals of every hard-court tournament, and my conclusion is, it doesn’t mean a thing if you don’t win the Grand Slams.

“So, to be quite honest, I won’t do that to myself again, make it so important for me to beat everybody every time. I am going to work on my game at times. I am going to use matches to improve certain things, and not to just win, because I think there is a huge cost not having an off-season. I think that is way too much tennis.”

Translated: Agassi is going to lose more and care less.

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Suddenly, the United States’ successful defense of its Davis Cup title doesn’t seem such a sure thing.

The U.S. team will play the Czech Republic in Prague next month in the second round without Sampras, Agassi, Chang or Jim Courier. Sampras and Chang say they will be available for later rounds, Agassi will not play Davis Cup at all this year and Courier is an unknown.

Sampras played while tired and injured last year and said he won’t do it again.

Chang will be in Asia, as will Sampras, and unavailable. Courier is said to be making himself unavailable, perhaps tired of being taken for granted for so long.

That leaves Todd Martin, possibly with MaliVai Washington in singles, and Patrick McEnroe and Patrick Galbraith in doubles.

The Czech team will have the advantage of home ground and choice of surface, as well as a solid lineup that may include Karel Novacek, Cyril Suk and Daniel Vacek.