There’s More Posturing Than Playing

They’ve been ripping one another and ripping balls at each other.

The French Open has been more notable for posturing, pouting and preening than for forehand winners and backhand volleys.

Oh, and the men are still here.

But after one week, Roland Garros has been dominated by talk of the new generation of female tennis players. Certainly, Tracy Austin and Andrea Jaeger were precocious in their day, but this era is different.

Now, Martina Hingis is on the cover of GQ. Anna Kournikova is in Rolling Stone. Venus and Serena Williams are in Vogue. Off the court, Hingis is hanging out with her Spanish boyfriend, professional tennis player Julian Alonso.

Not to be outdone, Kournikova was spotted chatting at Court Central with Brazilian superstar Ronaldo, in France for soccer’s upcoming World Cup. Ronaldo is one of the few guys who makes the 16-year-old Russian’s close friend Sergei Fedorov of the Detroit Red Wings look like a pauper.

All this maneuvering for position can be confusing. Frankly, it’s getting hard to keep track of the alliances and the feuds.

With the completion of the women’s fourth round on Monday--No. 3-seeded Jana Novotna of the Czech Republic defeated No. 13 Kournikova, 6-7 (7-2), 6-3, 6-3, and defending champion Iva Majoli of Croatia beat No. 7 Conchita Martinez, 7-6 (7-1), 6-7 (7-3), 6-3--two more areas of contention arose.

* Kournikova vs. the Women’s Tennis Assn.

* Majoli vs. Venus and Serena Williams.

Actually, Kournikova was taking issue with the wrong folks. On Sunday against Novotna, in the fading light of the third set, she asked for suspension of the match, trailing 4-1. Play cannot be suspended because of darkness on an odd-numbered game, according to International Tennis Federation rules.

Failing in that request, Kournikova then asked for a bathroom break. It was denied by tournament officials, not by the WTA. She played one more game in tears--though she maintained later that something was in her eye--and then the match was suspended at 4-2.

Monday, Novotna and Kournikova returned to Court Central, playing three games, and 14 minutes later it was over when Kournikova smacked a backhand in the net.

“You know, I couldn’t beg him [the referee] in front of 20,000 people and the camera to go to the bathroom,” Kournikova said of Sunday.

Tournament officials said she should have made the request at the beginning of the change of ends.

“I had a very difficult time understanding why I couldn’t go to the bathroom,” she said. “In the rule book, it said I can go any time, even during a point. I can take a bathroom break, two bathroom breaks.

“The WTA refused to let me go to the bathroom. I still can’t understand why. Maybe you can help me find that out.”

Given the subject matter, it was bound to turn humorous.

“It sounds funny,” Kournikova said. “Now, every time I go to the bathroom, I should ask the WTA, ‘Can I go to the bathroom, please?’ ”

The veterans Majoli and Martinez did not have to worry about these things. They agreed to stop play around 9 p.m. Sunday after splitting sets.

Majoli sided with Kournikova.

“They should have let her go,” Majoli said.

Then she turned to the Williams sisters. Majoli was asked about Serena Williams, who barely missed hitting Arantxa Sanchez Vicario with a ball in their match Sunday. Venus Williams also nearly missed hitting her opponent on Sunday.

“Venus and Serena are a little bit different,” Majoli said. “They look at you like you’re nobody and they’re the best. You never know if they’re going to change, but that’s the way they are.”

But the Williams sisters aren’t the only confident teens.

Seventeen-year-old Martina Hingis, who will play Venus Williams in today’s quarterfinals, has no shortage of moxie.

“At Grand Slams, it starts the second week on, the real tournament for the stars,” Hingis said. “This [the first week] is like the warmup.”

Patty Schnyder, who will play Sanchez Vicario in the quarterfinals today, has no problem with Hingis. However, Kournikova is a different matter.

“We had our problems when we played our match [in April],” Schnyder said. “It was difficult with her. I said some tough words about her, now she doesn’t talk anymore. It’s OK. I don’t need her. I have enough friends on the tour. I don’t need her as a friend.”

And, just think, there are still five days left of the women’s event.

As for the men, yes, they played Monday.

Ronaldo and Brazilian defender Roberto Carlos and midfielder Leonardo had a great old time, hanging out with last year’s French Open champion, Gustavo Kuerten, and watching 18-year-old Marat Safin of Russia lose to Cedric Pioline of France, 7-5, 4-6, 6-7 (7-5), 6-4, 6-4, in the fourth round.

“I never saw Ronaldo like this--so near, so close to me,” said Safin, smiling.

Ronaldo, who also plays for the Italian club team Inter Milan, chatted with Kournikova, did the wave and signed autographs during the three-hour 18-minute match.

Finally, inexperience got to Safin. The youngster played a lot of tennis in Paris and surpassed expectations, beating Andre Agassi and Kuerten in the first two rounds, needing five sets in each match and four more in the third round.

But Pioline, who reached the quarterfinals here in 1996, delighted his compatriots with his performance.

“I was tired,” said Pioline, who said his experience made the difference. “It was difficult in my legs and in my head. The crowd helped boost my energy.”

Said Safin: “You have to be clever on the important points. You cannot lose your serve 5-3 up [in the first set]. No concentration on the important points.”

Also advancing were No. 14-seeded Alex Corretja of Spain and Filip Dewulf of Belgium. Dewulf, who reached the semifinals here last year, defeated Francisco Clavet, 7-5, 6-3, 6-1, and Corretja beat Jason Stoltenberg, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3. The only seeded male player to exit was No. 16-seeded Alberto Berasategui of Spain, who lost, 6-2, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, to 24-year-old Hicham Arazi of Morocco.

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Today’s Featured Matches

MEN

Felix Mantilla (15) vs. Thomas Muster; Marcelo Rios (3) vs. Carlos Moya (12).

WOMEN

Martina Hingis (1) vs. Venus Williams (8); Patty Schnyder vs. Arantxa Sanchez Vicario (4); Iva Majoli (10) vs. Lindsay Davenport (2); Jana Novotna (3) vs. Monica Seles (6).