WIMBLEDON DAILY REPORT : Doubles Teams Often Comprise True Mixed Bag

If Murphy Jensen hadn’t arrived late for work at last year’s Wimbledon, the doubles competition might not have gotten any attention at all.

Crowd pleasing but often ignored, doubles and mixed doubles frequently offers the best action at a tennis tournament and the most interesting pairings. Jensen and his now former partner Brenda Schultz-McCarthy were a case in point. Jensen is an unpredictable and often outrageous player. McCarthy is steady, with a big serve and quiet disposition.

When Jensen stood her up last year--he was later defaulted for failing to appear for the match--McCarthy reacted mildly, shrugging, “That’s Murphy.” She has since dumped him.

Dumped is the story of Martina Navratilova’s life in doubles, being both the dumper and dumpee in her career. At Wimbledon last year Navratilova was paired with Steffi Graf, who seldom plays doubles. The partnership was important to Navratilova, who was chasing Billie Jean King’s record of 20 Wimbledon titles.

At the 11th hour Graf pulled out, citing her aching back and angering Navratilova. Small wonder that this year, in her role as HBO commentator, Navratilova was skeptical of Graf’s knee injury.

The two are also examples of odd couples in their mixed doubles activities. Navratilova entered the mixed with Jason Stark, a young American whom she met for the first time five minutes before their first match. Chemistry must have worked because the pair won the mixed doubles, giving Navratilova her 19th Wimbledon title.

Navratilova and Stark are in mixed doubles here again.

So is Graf, who has only played mixed doubles four other times in her career. Graf’s partner: her coach, Heinz Guenthardt.

Another odd mixed doubles mixture here--the volatile Mary Pierce and the aging but no less volatile former champion, Pat Cash.

Strange forces and coincidence bring partners together. But there was no secret about the forces that brought Monica Seles and Betsy Nagelsen together--International Management Group. Nagelsen is married to the man who runs IMG; Seles is a client.

Sometimes opposites attract. The 10th-seeded women’s doubles team is Mariaan de Swardt and Katrina Adams. de Swardt is a white South African and Adams is an African American.

“It was never a problem for me, as a matter of fact it brought us together,” de Swardt said. “As a white from Johannesburg, I felt people looked down on me and condemned me because of where I come from. [Katrina and I] had other people’s attitudes [toward us] in common.”

The most hopeful team: Maja Muric and Tatyana Jecmenica, a Croatian and Serbian, respectively, who played in harmony.