Women’s Tour Comes Under Heavy Fire

Unwanted sexual advances . . . racial bias . . . financial intrigue . . . it’s all happening in women’s professional tennis, or at least that’s what the mother of one of the top young players in the game has charged at Wimbledon.

Not since Jeff Tarango’s wife slapped a chair umpire or they raised the price of a cup of strawberries has the All England Club seen such a commotion.

At Centre Court in the controversy is 18-year-old Alexandra Stevenson of San Diego, whose arrival in the fourth round has coincided with a series of disputes that can only be described as bizarre, even by tennis standards.

Alexandra is the daughter of Samantha Stevenson, a freelance journalist who works for the New York Times and other publications and who threatened to sue the Women’s Tennis Assn. Tour over prize money Alexandra earned at Wimbledon.

The WTA considered Alexandra an amateur, but was forced to back down when Wimbledon officials ruled Monday that the teen had entered the tournament without specifying she was an amateur, thus satisfying its guidelines that all players are considered professionals unless they say they are not when they sign up.

This means that Alexandra is guaranteed $42,340 for reaching the fourth round, a sum that would mount to $79,442 if she defeated Lisa Raymond and reached the quarterfinals.

“Since Alexandra Stevenson did not register as an amateur for this event, we have assumed all along that she has been playing as a professional and is fully entitled to receive the prize money,” said Christopher Gorringe, Wimbledon’s chief executive.

A member of the USTA junior national team, Alexandra was one of the top juniors in the country. In the Southern California section, she was an equal as an amateur to 18-year-old Marissa Irvin of Los Angeles, who is a freshman at Stanford, and 19-year-old Brandis Braverman of Newport Beach, who recently turned pro.

Stevenson already has victories over three top-30 players--Dominique Van Roost of Belgium, Amy Frazier and Julie Halard of France.

But off the court, the money issue is hardly the most troubling item on Alexandra’s professional agenda.

Samantha Stevenson, who is white, said Alexandra, whose father is black, has been the target of racism on tour and that the WTA and some players are part of the problem.

“They act like a bunch of girls in high school,” Samantha Stevenson said to a group of reporters at Wimbledon.

Samantha Stevenson also described the treatment accorded Venus and Serena Williams when they joined the tour as “definite racism.”

Said Samantha, “Is it big? No. Is it subtle? Yes. You can’t explain racism, you have to be there to understand it.”

All this has managed to put WTA Tour chief Bart McGuire squarely on the defensive.

In response to Stevenson’s charges of racial bias, McGuire pointed out that the WTA is made up of players from a number of ethnic, cultural and racial backgrounds.

“That being said, we are disappointed that [Stevenson’s] assertions have been made to the press and not the tour.”

Yeah, leave it to a reporter to talk to reporters.

Of course, even professional courtesy has its limits. Stevenson would not comment further Monday.

However, she’d said plenty before.

Stevenson admitted she’s afraid to leave Alexandra alone in the locker room because of rampant jealousy and lesbian innuendo.

Stevenson described the locker room of women’s tennis in none too flattering terms.

“It’s an absolute jungle,” she said. “A big, bad place. It just isn’t a normal place for a young girl. As a mother, I want to make sure she’s OK. But the biggest threats to girls of her age are the other girls on the tour.

“When she goes into the locker room, she looks for me. She’s a real teenager and I’m not going to let anything happen to her. If girls like her don’t have a support system, they can be led down the wrong path.”

So that’s where it stands. The Stevensons aren’t talking anymore. The WTA is holding its breath that they stay that way. Craig Kardon, Alexandra’s coach, isn’t talking either. He waved away reporters, saying, “Don’t even think about it.”

It rained Monday at Wimbledon, which forced postponement of Alexandra’s match. And the way things are going in this women’s tennis saga, clear skies may not be in the forecast any time soon.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.