Martinez Overcomes Tough Challenges

Taking its cue from the weather, the second round of State Farm Evert Cup heated up on Sunday. While the tournament and its players seemed in a slumber the first two days, all it took was a dose of competition to wake things up.

Veteran players were challenged in the time-honored manner at the Hyatt Grand Champions Resort.

Second-seeded Conchita Martinez was made to work hard in her match against hard-working Petra Begerow before winning, 6-4, 6-2.

Two teenagers were heard from Sunday. Sixteen-year-old Venus Williams, ranked No. 192, defeated Ai Sugiyama of Japan, ranked No. 29, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. Williams made it into the main draw through qualifying in this, her first tournament of the year.

Fifteen-year-old Anna Kournikova threw a mighty scare into Anke Huber before the tournament’s third-seeded player recovered to win, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.

Kournikova, of Russia, is ranked No. 89 but is expected to be a star of the future, perhaps not the near future. So far in her career she is remarkable for her precociousness, her proclivity for tight-fitting tennis wear and her remarkable tan.

Against the seventh-ranked Huber, Kournikova also displayed a tightly-reined temper and a teenager’s impatience.

“I think I made it difficult for myself, especially in the beginning,” Huber said. “She can hit the ball very hard, she just didn’t hit it too much into the court. But a lot of young players are playing like this. She didn’t fight a lot today. I don’t know why. Otherwise, she had a good game.”

Asa Carlsson of Sweden had the day’s upset, defeating 10th-seeded Barbara Paulus of Austria, 6-4, 6-4.

Martinez was a logical target for upset. She has been nursing tendinitis in her right shoulder, an injury whose physical toll has been outstripped by the mental wear and tear it’s causing. Martinez has been dealing with the injury for months and it’s beginning to occur to her--between visits to the physical therapist--that the injury has moved from being temporary to chronic.

The loss of mobility in Martinez’s shoulder has tamed her serve in a way that is debilitating. Martinez has played in only two tournaments this season and not with much success. She was eliminated from the fourth round of the Australian Open and lost to Brenda Schultz-McCarthy in Tokyo, 6-1, 6-0, her worst loss in years.

Finally, Martinez has done the thing that tennis players do when nothing else seems to work. She has changed coaches. She is now working with Joe Brandi, who is already plotting strategy for the French Open in May.

The clay-court season seems distant and Martinez must still navigate the hardcourt season. And this tournament.

Martinez took a 3-0 lead in the first set, but Begerow stunted the downward slide with athletic movement and a persistence that wore on Martinez. Begerow won the psychological battle by dancing on her toes between points as the match drew out.

The on-court temperature at the start of the match hovered at 109 degrees and players were unable to find respite from the sun in the shadows at the end of the court--there were none.

“It was really hot,” Martinez said, but she compared the conditions to the oven-like temperatures during the Australian Open. “Actually, after playing in Australia . . . it is nothing compared to that.”

Begerow kept fighting in the second set but Martinez had found the rhythm that had abandoned her early in the match.

“It was difficult,” Martinez said. “I haven’t played in a tournament since Tokyo [February]. I just need a couple of matches to get used to the conditions.”

Today’s Featured Matches

Today’s featured matches in the State Farm Evert Cup (women) and Newsweek Champions Cup (men) tournaments at the Hyatt Grand Champion Resort. Seeds in parenthesis:

DAY SESSION STARTING AT 10

* Jim Courier (16), United States vs. Francisco Clavet, Spain (not before noon).

* Arantxa Sanchez Vicario (1) , Spain vs. Asa Carlsson, Sweden.

EVENING SESSION STARTING AT 6:30

* Anke Huber (3), Germany vs. Nathalie Tauziat (13), France.

* Followed by . . . Tim Henman (11), Great Britain vs. Jeff Tarango, United States.