Spring Already Has Sprung Plenty on Us

What was longer and tougher? The NBA or NHL regular seasons, the political primary race, the line for the opening of “The Phantom Menace” or the yearly tennis schedule.

There’s no question--the primaries may be tougher, but the tennis season is longer, at least this year. And even though any winter journey through Canada in the midst of a blizzard is a viable contender in any season, there is no comparison to Andre Agassi’s Melbourne-Harare-San Jose march in February.

But there are similarities.

Politicians and players have been known pick their spots--blowing off unimportant states during a busy primary season, sleep-skating through a game in Dallas or tanking during a Davis Cup match in Spain.

And there’s one other common thread. Political campaigns often lurch under the weight of unexpected costs, a lot like the USTA did in March when it was discovered to have incurred a deficit of nearly $13 million last year.

How much sense can you make of tennis by April? There’s a lot to be played in 2000, three more Grand Slams--the French Open, Wimbledon, the U.S. Open--two more rounds of the Davis Cup and the Olympics. Certainly, U.S. Davis Cup captain John McEnroe is capable of hurting his players’ feelings at least one more time this year.

Still, if you sift through the avalanche of papers, of rankings, of records, there are some meaningful trends and tidbits to be found in the whirlwind of Memphis, Monte Carlo and Malaga, after the first third of the season, among them:

Leading men’s player--Agassi. It’s a bit unfair he has been overlooked at times. The hero at Harare was Chris Woodruff, and it was Pete Sampras in Los Angeles. Without Agassi, the United States would not have had a chance of survival against Zimbabwe or the Czech Republic.

So he lost lackluster matches in Scottsdale, Ariz., and Indian Wells. In the larger scheme of things, not many people will remember those performances.

When matches really matter, he wins.

Since the 1999 Australian Open, Agassi has won three of the last four Grand Slam events and was a finalist at the other, Wimbledon.

Perhaps the new slogan should be: Substance is everything.

Leading women’s player--Lindsay Davenport. Did someone say Grand Slam? If so, Davenport really does not want to hear that sort of talk, not with her least-favorite major fast approaching, the French Open.

But Davenport has lost to the eventual winner at Roland Garros the last three years. Steffi Graf last year, Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario in 1998 and Iva Majoli in 1997. A victory in Paris would give her a career Grand Slam, and raise the level of interest in the pursuit of the first Grand Slam since Graf’s in 1988.

Davenport’s 21-match winning streak this year included the Australian Open title and a couple of ruthless dismissals of former No. 1 Martina Hingis, who was pushed around the court by Davenport like a rag doll.

The biggest question will be Davenport’s injured left foot, which may limit her French Open preparation to either the tournament in Madrid or Strasbourg, France.

Leading men’s newcomer--Juan Carlos Ferrero. Alex Corretja, the elder statesman of Spanish tennis at 26, has proclaimed this slight, Korda-ish fellow (fondly known as “the mosquito”) as the future. Already, he has found success on hardcourts, reaching the final at Dubai in the winter, putting him ahead of the vast legions of his baseline buddies.

Leading women’s newcomer--Elena Dementieva. She is the same age (18) as her countrywoman, Anna Kournikova, but she is not ranked as highly and her game is improving more rapidly than the uber-publicized diva’s.

Dementieva, ranked ahead of two other well-known teenagers Alexandra Stevenson and Jelena Dokic, is on the verge of breaking into the top 30 in the world and could reach the top 20 by the end of 2000.

Leading coach--McEnroe. Mac as Davis Cup captain seems a lot like an Army recruiter. We can just hear him giving the pitch: Be all that you can be . . . see the world . . . be like Pete.

Agassi had bought into the program long ago. McEnroe made Woodruff a believer in Zimbabwe, and the captain’s biggest victory may have been with Sampras.

Sampras became a front-page American hero with his dramatic, grimacing victory over Slava Dosedel in the decisive match of the quarterfinal against the Czech Republic.

But the best part was watching a thrilled Sampras celebrate with his father, Sam.

Zimbabwe and now Los Angeles. We can’t remember the first two rounds of Davis Cup being quite this fascinating.

Leading cheerleader--Jo-jo, the singing, dancing clown of Harare.

Sorry Laker girls.