The Art of Deception Has Been Mastered by ‘Injured,’ ‘Upset’

Take a look at any entry list for any major tournament in the world and you will find the word tentative displayed prominently somewhere. With good reason. Until tennis players actually peel the plastic wraps off their rackets to warm up for their first match, you can never be sure they’ll show.

Boris Becker recently pulled out of his fourth tournament because of a wrist injury. Andre Agassi, who took off three months and opted out of the Australian Open, is currently injured.

Monica Seles has a long-standing injury to her left shoulder but has been off the tour since last December because of a broken bone in her right index finger. Seles is left-handed.

Steffi Graf has pulled out of four tournaments and Fed Cup play because of inflammation in her left knee. She last played Feb. 2 and isn’t scheduled to play again until April 28. That’s almost three months off.

All the above players agree the season is too long. All are locked into a system that requires they play in order to maintain their ranking. In the case of the women and their new ranking system, Seles and Graf are hurting. Seles is still at No. 6, but she has no points for the season and will probably drop. Graf is still barely No. 1 above Martina Hingis, but she’s only No. 15 when ranked according to points won this year. Hingis, at No. 1, has earned five times the points Graf has.

The problem with the credibility of injuries is that they are about the only legitimate reason for pulling out of a tournament. A player is exhausted--mentally or physically--and doesn’t want to perform. What should the player do? Fake an injury before the tournament or play one halfhearted round and then leave?

That system encourages deception. Something has to give.

More and more, top players are “upset” early in tournaments. Jim Courier lost last week in Philadelphia to South African Grant Stafford in what could barely be called an upset, under the circumstances. The season is only two months old and already Courier has played in Qatar, Australia, Florida, Brazil, Dubai, Belgium and the United States. He has traveled 45,000 miles to play tennis.

INTERNATIONAL SCENE

Speaking of Courier’s willingness to play, funny how he’s the only American player to make himself available for the Davis Cup next month against the Netherlands.

Todd Martin had surgery on his right elbow last week and will resume training in four to six weeks. The other player U.S. Davis Cup captain Tom Gullikson had counted on was Agassi. But Agassi is still suffering from the ankle injury that kept him off the team for the first round in Brazil.

MaliVai Washington, who replaced Agassi, injured his left knee in Brazil and may not be available.

U.S. Davis Cup officials chose the Newport Beach site at the request of the players--who say travel to the next tour stop in Asia would be easier from the West Coast. But now no one wants to or can play. Pete Sampras has said he’ll play in the semifinal, should the U.S. advance. Michael Chang has not committed to play in the Davis Cup this year.

Things are not much better at Fed Cup, where Lindsay Davenport has spent most of her time denying rumors that she and new U.S. captain Martina Navratilova are experiencing creative differences.

Davenport’s explanation is that she didn’t feel like going to the Netherlands in February, but she’s been among the most patriotic of the American women when asked to play. With Seles injured, Navratilova named a team of Mary Joe Fernandez, Kimberly Po, Chanda Rubin and Gigi Fernandez, who lost, 3-2, to the Netherlands after being swept in Sunday’s singles matches.

BASH IN THE DESERT

The annual massive attack of tennis in the desert--with the start of the women’s State Farm Evert Cup on Friday and the men’s Newsweek Champions Cup March 10--will be presaged by preliminary events.

The women’s qualifying takes place Wednesday and Thursday at the Hyatt Grand Champions at Indian Wells. Four players will advance to the 56-player main draw of the Evert Cup.

It’s more complicated for the men.

The 32-man field of the Newsweek ATP Challenger began Monday and runs through Sunday. Two finalists from that field will advance to the main draw of the Newsweek Champions Cup.

Seven players from the Champions Cup qualifying tournament on Saturday and Sunday will advance to the main draw of the $2.3-million Super Nine tournament.

Following is the schedule. All matches are at the Hyatt Grand Champions:

Newsweek ATP Challenger: Monday-Sunday, 10 a.m.

State Farm Evert Cup qualifying: Wednesday-Thursday, 10 a.m.

Newsweek qualifying: March 8-9, 11 a.m.

State Farm Evert Cup: March 7-15. Day sessions begin at 10 a.m. Night sessions begin at 6:30 p.m. March 15 final at 11 a.m.

Newsweek Champions Cup: March 10-16. Day sessions begin at 10 a.m. Night sessions begin at 6:30 p.m. March 16 final at 11:30 a.m.

The tournaments will be broadcast on ESPN and ESPN2.

DROP SHOTS

Karolj Seles, father and coach of Monica Seles, is receiving treatment for a recurrence of stomach cancer. He learned he had prostate cancer in June 1993 and then a gastric tumor in December 1993. He had surgery for both conditions and is now undergoing chemotherapy at the Mayo Clinic. . . . Anna Kournikova, the precocious 15-year-old Russian, has been given a wild card into the Evert Cup. . . . Ken Flach has been named men’s tennis coach at Vanderbilt. The former NCAA champion made a career on the ATP Tour as a doubles specialist and was formerly the No. 1 ranked doubles player in the world. Flach won the Wimbledon doubles championship twice and mixed doubles title once.