Sampras Reaches Turning Point

If the illness of his coach, Tim Gullikson, was agonizing for Pete Sampras, Gullikson’s death last week will probably be a turning point in the career of the world’s No. 1 player.

Sampras acknowledged that last season’s midyear slump--during which he was knocked out of the French Open in the first round--was about a lack of confidence because of Gullikson’s absence. Even though the two spoke regularly on the telephone, Sampras said he missed Gullikson’s cheerful and steady presence.

The question now will be what will be the role of Paul Annacone, who was recruited at the 1995 Australian Open to work with Sampras while Gullikson was ill.

Annacone always maintained that his job was as caretaker. “I’m not going to be making any changes in Pete’s game,” Annacone said.

The major change has, tragically, arrived. Sampras will begin his clay-court campaign next week at the Italian Open. He showed vast reserves of character in dealing with Gullikson’s illness. The next test will be how he deals with the death of his best friend.

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It’s like old times when John McEnroe talks tennis. One carefully chosen question, and it’s a race to see if reporters’ pens can keep up with McEnroe’s observations.

McEnroe has refined his ability to analyze the game, perhaps as a result of his work as a television commentator. But his keen logic seems to break down when it involves self-analysis. Witness his comments about his desire to be a member of the Olympic tennis team, as a doubles player.

“Who’s better than me in doubles?” McEnroe said. “I don’t see anyone out there who’s better than me in doubles. If I play a couple of events, I’ll be ready.”

McEnroe apparently hasn’t studied the Olympic situation. The Olympic tennis team is selected according to the world rankings the week of April 29. Period. Olympic coaches have no leeway to select on a basis other than ranking of players available. They may skip past high-ranked players who don’t want to play, such as Michael Chang, or injured players.

Olympic Coach Tom Gullikson couldn’t pick McEnroe if he wanted to. The problem isn’t that McEnroe has a low ranking in doubles--see the case of Jennifer Capriati below--it’s that he doesn’t have a ranking. Since 1992--the last time he played something like a full-time doubles schedule--McEnroe has played one doubles match on the ATP Tour: at Rotterdam in February 1994.

Playing the occasional match on the over-35 tour does nothing to prepare him for the game as it is played on the real tour. Even a talent as prodigious as McEnroe’s needs more honing than that.

As to who’s a better doubles player, how about his own brother, Patrick? The younger McEnroe was deemed good enough to play doubles on the Davis Cup team. So was Patrick Galbraith, the 1995 world doubles champion and ranked No. 5 in the world.

McEnroe has a beef about the way he was treated in 1992 regarding the Olympics, saying he wanted to play but wasn’t selected because of a misunderstanding. Perhaps, but this time the misunderstanding is his.

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Just when we were about to note that the women seldom have trouble getting top players for Fed Cup comes the news that Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and Conchita Martinez refused to help Spain defend its title because they were getting only $55,000 per match. They were asking for $80,000 and settled for an undisclosed sum.

Still, it’s unusual for anyone to rock the Fed Cup boat. The drill for the women during Fed Cup weeks is the same as the men during Davis Cup--no top-tier tournaments are scheduled. Just about all the top women support Fed Cup. The Americans have been pretty good about it, when they are not hurt. For the recent match against Austria, the U.S. team was without its top players; Monica Seles, Lindsay Davenport and Chanda Rubin, all were injured.

Capriati was named as a last-minute replacement, cut short her vacation in the Caribbean and flew to Salzburg. All that of which prompted Fed Cup captain Billie Jean King to muse aloud about the possibility that Capriati might get a special dispensation that would enable her to defend her Olympic title.

King, also the Olympic coach, suggested Capriati be named as a wild card.

“As host country this year and her being the defending gold medalist, I have asked for her to be an exception,” King said. “The chances are slim, but I’m in her corner.”