Personalities Are Very Nice, but They’re Not All There Is

Andre Agassi has spent more than a year questioning whether he needs tennis. It has taken tennis somewhat less time to affirm its need for Agassi.

How much of the current angst in the sport--Are we popular? Can we compete with golf? Where is the next generation of American players?--can be traced to Agassi’s absence? It was all made worse with Boris Becker’s announcement that he intended not to enter

Grand Slam events and the general stagnancy afflicting the upper levels of men’s tennis.

It has been a summer of massive change in the sport, but the obsession has been fixed on what and who are missing.

The argument goes, “There’s Pete Sampras, but who will follow?” That’s precisely not the point. What would baseball give to have a Pete Sampras, with all of his professional dignity, once-in-an-era ability and, most notably, his lack of police record? Sampras is on pace to win more Grand Slam titles than any other man in history. Oooh, what a liability.

An example of the convoluted thinking presented itself at the French Open. As daily upsets denuded the men’s field of seeded players, the talk was about how little interest the tournament was generating. Wait a minute. This is the sport that gets criticized for its beige sameness, for its lack of new names and fresh faces.

Take the Final Four as an example: Fans get most excited in the tournament when one or two basketball factories are picked off by a tiny liberal arts college. Upsets are what drive such competitions and get fans talking.

Women’s tennis has the same strange situation. Steffi Graf’s extended hiatus after knee surgery has had the effect of wearing down the fingernails of the tennis establishment. That would be understandable if Graf’s absence created a void, but that is not the case.

Talk about a lack of spin control. Women’s tennis has a 16-year-old phenomenon as its ranking star, causing nitwits like John McEnroe to remark that that fact signals a problem in women’s tennis. How’s that? If Martina Hingis’ biggest problem is she shoots off her mouth a little bit, that makes her immensely more professional on her worst day than McEnroe ever was on his best.

In the United States, too often the “problem with tennis” has been a code phrase for, “the problem with American tennis.” Different issues. There is a problem with grass-roots tennis in this country and the U.S. Tennis Assn.’s inability to reach a new, non-private club generation of players. To say nothing of guiding those young players through the snake pit of junior tennis and onto the tour as a successful pro and functional human.

It’s a real issue, but quite apart from the parochial concern about the lack of Americans in the top 10 on either tour. Do Americans always have to cheer for Americans? Can American tennis fans appreciate talent only when it resides in an American player?

Tennis, to its shame, seldom embraces diversity as an issue. Yet, in a less narrow frame, there is diversity in the sport. Tennis has brilliant maniacs like Goran Ivanisevic. It has hugely talented but spectacular underachievers like Jana Novotna. Tennis has stoics and clowns and wildly unpredictable players who make matches interesting.

Tennis has Europeans and Asians and South Americans as its stars. It is capable of shocking surprises: The young Brazilian, Gustavo Kuerten, should be rewarded with more than the French Open title for his service to the sport. A happy, grateful winner is as refreshing as it is unusual.

This all comes back to Agassi. His mere presence in the sport will not automatically elevate tennis. Graf playing injured or Agassi playing indifferently does more harm than good. It’s not them, it’s their game and their passion that compel fans to watch.

Good tennis elevates tennis. Rivalries elevate tennis. A logical season with a sensible rankings system elevates tennis. Committed professionals bringing their honest effort to the job elevates tennis.

CHANGE OF JOBS, CHANGE OF HATS

Bob Kramer, the only executive director the Southern California Tennis Assn. has ever had, will step down from the job he has held since 1983 to devote his time entirely to organizing the Infiniti Open men’s tournament, which begins Monday at UCLA.

Kramer has been wearing two hats and doing two jobs whose responsibilities have increased tremendously. He recently concluded that each job required the full-time attention of one person.

“It’s going to make my life a lot better,” Kramer said. “I’m going to do a better job on the tournament.”

That will come as good news to whomever succeeds Kramer, since the tournament is owned by the SCTA and is responsible for 60% of the organization’s budget and 20% of its programming funds. The tournament contributes $250,000 a year to support tennis programs in Southern California.

“Bob has done a great job wearing two hats and juggling all that he has,” SCTA President Bill Rombeau said. “We need the Infiniti tournament to continue to grow so that we can continue to grow as an association. My interest is to position Southern California as the powerhouse of the West.”

Under Kramer’s direction, the region’s junior tennis program has flourished. Last year, 30% of the national junior champions were from Southern California.

The SCTA has ambitious plans to expand its office space out of the Los Angeles Tennis Center at UCLA and to establish a Southern California Tennis Hall of Fame and library.

Kramer is expected to step down as executive director before the end of the year.

BENEFIT

Helpers for the Homeless and Hungry presents a tennis carnival at Crenshaw High on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Details: (213) 299-8670.