Coronation Is for Tennis, King of Spain

By BILL DWYRE

March 14, 1999 12 AM PT

TIMES SPORTS EDITOR

INDIAN WELLS —

It was a day tennis dreams about, a day in the desert when a sport in a seemingly endless struggle to find itself found Carlos Moya.

It is a sport thirsting for attention in a saturated entertainment marketplace. Dennis Rodman burps, tennis goes on Page 20.

It craves new attractions, new heroes, and Saturday, it found that and more in the 22-year-old from Spain who took over the No. 1 ranking in men’s tennis by winning a semifinal match in the Newsweek Champions Cup.

Moya’s 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 victory over Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil set up Sunday’s final against Mark Philippoussis of Australia, who outmuscled the comeback kid from Tennessee, No. 550 Chris Woodruff, 6-1, 6-2, in 50 minutes.

But it did much more than that.

It was sunny, in the mid-80s here, with a soft breeze rustling the palm trees that surround the stadium and the flags of the world that sit atop the 11,500-seat stadium at Grand Champions Resort. All 11,500 seats were filled, the press row and photo dugout were at near capacity, and on the perch on the south side, television cameras were rolling, ready to transmit this magic to millions more around the world in a taped telecast later in the day.

For those in attendance, it was a feel-good moment, a warm and fuzzy time in a sport that can, so often, look mostly cold and steely. It was a day fit for a king, and Moya became one.

Needing to win four matches here to supplant Pete Sampras atop the rankings, Moya allowed Kuerten only two points in the first four games of the third set and, the moment Kuerten’s last forehand settled into the net, started a celebration that had the rapt attention of a standing full house. Nobody left early. No Dodger fans in this crowd.

Moya clenched his fists and gestured toward his traveling entourage of coach Jose Perlas and trainer Luis Miguel Morales, then got a hug at the net from Kuerten, who later called Moya “a great guy” and added, “He’s very simple. I like that. I like guys like him.”

Then, in what will become a photo in many newspapers around the world, Moya joined Perlas and Morales in a circle near the sidelines, where they proceeded to, altogether now, do 10 jumps.

“There is no name for it,” Moya said later. “It is just an exercise. It is usually what the person who loses when we play soccer has to do, but we decided, before the match, if I won, we’d do it today.”

Quickly, the dignitaries descended on the court, and for once, the postmatch ceremony that transpired was, well, inspired. The ATP, along with Charlie Pasarell, the tournament director and a rare tennis visionary, clearly had the sense to make the most of this moment. Alan King, token celebrity host, bobbled the ball slightly by calling Moya “Carlos Montoya,” but even that turned into a positive moment when the crowd, caught up in it all, shouted King down with chants of “Moya, Moya, Moya.”

Quickly, John Newcombe, the former Australian star, took the microphone. He was the second player in the history of the tour’s computer rankings that began in 1973 to rise to the No. 1 spot, so his presence here was perfect. Newcombe told Moya to always remember, “It’s good to be king.”

It’s also good to be a heartthrob.

When the celebration party carried over into the news conference, where Pasarell and other ATP officials presented Moya with a huge cake in the shape of the numeral 1, and 20 photographers clicked away, a female reporter gushed to another, “I wonder if he’ll change his shirt in here like he did the other day.”

To somebody not watching closely, the Moya party could be viewed as much ado about nothing. Yes, he became only the 15th in history to hold the No. 1 spot. And yes, he was the first Spaniard.

But next week is another tournament, the prestigious Lipton at Key Biscayne, Fla., and Moya’s lead over Sampras is only 37 points. Also, Patrick Rafter, Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Alex Corretja are all within shouting distance of the top. And, as Sampras is fond of saying, being No. 1 in March is not a big deal. See him in December, when the season ends and the record book enters its official stamp on the year.

The thing is, tennis can’t wait for that. It needs what it got Saturday: color, drama, location, sex appeal; in short, a story line that--even at the most insane point of March Madness--will get the powers at “SportsCenter” to take note.

It is fitting that this happened on Pasarell’s watch. Friday morning, during his annual breakfast chat with the media, the longtime ATP official and former world-ranked player dealt with a series of questions about what in the game needs to be fixed, covering everything from the Davis Cup to poor TV exposure to the need for more women’s restrooms at this event.

And there were the inevitable questions about developing new stars, who they might be and how they might affect the game.

As it turns out, Pasarell didn’t have to answer those. Moya and the crowd and the sunshine and the palm trees and the history of the moment did. For one great, even magical day, in one of its major tournaments of the year designed to be exactly that, the sport of tennis was alive and, well, thank you.

Tennis Notes

Chris Woodruff’s semifinal loss did little to discourage him. “I had a fabulous week,” he said. And that was hard to argue. He got into the main draw through the qualifying tournament and ended up playing seven matches. His No. 550 ranking, that low because the former No. 30 in the world had lost nearly all of last season because of a knee injury, will rise to No. 165 this week. Also, he was offered a wild card into the Lipton. And in the days and weeks ahead? Woodruff said he would drive to Phoenix Saturday night to return his rental car, then play a tennis exhibition in Houston and, in April, go to the Masters as a spectator. “I love golf,” he said. “In fact, I would venture to say that golf is a lot harder than tennis.” . . . Todd Martin did an unusual thing Saturday. He announced he would sit out the rich Lipton tournament to rest a sore stomach muscle for Davis Cup. With U.S. men players of late, the opposite has usually been the norm.

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They’re No. 1

A list of No. 1 players on the men’s tour, with total weeks spent at the top:

Ivan Lendl: 270

Jimmy Connors: 268

Pete Sampras: 262

John McEnroe: 170

Bjorn Borg: 109

Stefan Edberg: 72

Jim Courier: 58

Ilie Nastase: 48

Andre Agassi: 32