Graf Stages a Quiet Return at Quaint, Rainy Edgbaston

By LISA DILLMAN

June 14, 1998 12 AM PT

BIRMINGHAM, England —

The elderly gentleman straight out of a Robertson Davies novel is muttering something about Pam Shriver, inquiring as to her whereabouts at the Edgbaston Priory Club.

“Oh, I mean Steffi Graf,” he said loudly from his seat several feet behind the baseline.

Very likely, that may be the first--and last--time anyone ever had that problem of identification.

“He comes here every year, but he usually sits down there,” a head-shaking spectator said, pointing toward the opposite end of the court.

Not far enough away for Yayuk Basuki of Indonesia. Basuki could hear him speaking as she toiled away against No. 1-seeded Irina Spirlea of Romania in a difficult quarterfinal match. Twice Basuki, a most pleasant sort, had to tell the talkative gent to keep quiet.

The gray-bearded scrooge of Edgbaston aside, the small grass-court tournament here, the DFS Classic, may well be the most charming event on the women’s circuit. Think Ojai, maybe, as a professional event with grass courts, and that conjures up something relatively close, although Birmingham is the second-largest city in England.

Now, there are but a handful of grass-court tournaments serving as tuneups to Wimbledon. Eastbourne, starting Monday, is the other women’s event in England. But to go to one of these events is to step back in time, a short walk through tennis history.

Inside the club, on a wall, is a program from a Davis Cup match between Great Britain and the Netherlands, which started June 10, 1948, and pictures of the players.

Outside, you can wander around and eat apple and cinnamon crepes for a little more than two pounds, or chicken curry with hot potatoes. Inside, the players’ lounge, an escape from the incessant rain, is next to the Tally Ho! Snooker Room.

It may not be a total escape from the dissonant world of corporate sports--after all, these are modern times--but the event comes close. At first, it seemed an odd choice for Graf to make her latest comeback, her first tournament in four months.

The winner receives only $27,000, and it is far off the radar screen.

But Graf certainly does not have monetary worries, and where else could she get in the grass-court matches she needs before Wimbledon in a subdued, pleasant setting?

And there aren’t many other places where her driver makes it a point to keep biscuits on hand for her in the car, or where her personal security man for the week is a delightful, upbeat Scot who managed to stay delightful and upbeat despite Scotland’s crushing World Cup loss to Brazil on Wednesday.

And upbeat, despite rain, rain and more rain here.

The matches were able to start on time only on Friday, after days of disruption. Saturday, the semifinals were a wash and officials will try to conduct the semifinals and final today, which is Graf’s 29th birthday.

Earlier in the week, the weather was cool even by English standards. On Thursday, although it was about 50 degrees, it felt much colder because of a stiff wind. Graf kept on her sweatpants for her third-round match against Kristie Boogert of the Netherlands, and Spirlea kept on her sweatpants and sweat jacket.

Spectators were huddled under blankets and decked out in winter wear. It was almost as cold as a night game in San Francisco.

“I’ve never been colder on a tennis court in my life,” Spirlea said.

Said Dominique Van Roost of Belgium, shivering as she stepped outside: “It’s not human to play in these conditions.”

Players kept occupied by taking part in a World Cup pool. “We all put in about a pound,” said Spirlea, who said the winnings will be delivered at the U.S. Open.

One player went above and beyond despite personal disappointment at Birmingham. Maria Fernanda Landa of Argentina, who is ranked 217th, missed the qualifying draw by two places in the rankings, and the doubles qualifying was canceled because of inclement weather.

Landa stayed with one of the tournament volunteers, and the volunteer got up and found Landa hard at work.

“She was doing my ironing,” the volunteer said. “And then she did my dishes and put them back exactly where they are supposed to go.”

BRIEFLY

Venus Williams said she plans to play at Carlsbad in August but not at Manhattan Beach, adding, “Maybe just doubles.” She also said her younger sister, Serena, probably will do the opposite.

But with the Williams sisters, you just never know.

Serena was annoyed by all of the rain in Paris at the French Open, and had a final word after her disappointing three-set loss to eventual champion Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, a match in which she twice was two points from winning.

“If it rains [at Wimbledon], I’m going to leave,” she said. “That’s all there is to it. Two days, and I’m going. I’m outta there. No more for me.”

HAIR-RAISING

No more of the bleached-blond locks for Spain’s Felix Mantilla, who reached the semifinals at the French Open with the blond ambition look.

Mantilla went blond because he lost a bet with doubles specialist Luis Lobo of Argentina. Once he lost to eventual winner Carlos Moya, Mantilla said he would not stay blond, but added that Lobo would have to hold up his end and dye his hair later this year at an event in Stuttgart, Germany.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

MEN

No. Player: Comment

1. Carlos Moya: This kid didn’t stay long in the Halle.

2. Marcelo Rios: No. 2 Marcelo in Chile, behind Salas.

3. Alex Corretja: Classiest man in tennis.

4. Pete Sampras: Hardly king for a day at Queen’s.

5. Cedric Pioline: Catching some rest at World Cup.

6. Petr Korda: Grass was not the solution.

7. Andre Agassi: Stayed away from chilly Queen’s.

8. Felix Mantilla: Picking hair color for Wimbledon.

9. Yevgeny Kafelnikov: Hale and hearty in Halle.