Major Issues

For the morning match on cozy Court 7 at Roland Garros there are only a few dozen spectators, many of them standing against the top-row rail and looking out toward other courts, their backs to Sandra Cacic.

She’s not giving them much reason to watch. The Floridian trails Angeles Montolio 6-1, 1-0 in a first-round mismatch and shows no sign of a comeback.

Cacic dumps easy shots into the net on consecutive points, then looks toward the sky.

“Why did I bother showing up here?” she says.

Good question. And Cacic has a good answer.

The French Open is about more than just Andre Agassi or Martina Hingis on center court. There are 19 courts and 256 players, all but two of whom will lose their final match.

“You need somebody to bear the brunt,” Cacic said with a laugh.

She knows more about defeat than most: The 6-1, 6-0 loss to Montolio was Cacic’s 15th in a row in Grand Slam tournaments. She has been eliminated in the opening round 14 consecutive times since reaching round three at the 1996 Australian Open.

So why did she bother showing up?

“I’m just happy to be here and get the opportunity to play,” Cacic said after her latest loss. “You have a day like this, and you still get paid. You have to keep it in perspective. We make more money for one match than some people make in a month.”

Cacic, 26, left Paris with $8,000 in prize money, a reward for making the main draw as the 84th-ranked player on the women’s tour. That increased her career earnings to $647,000 and this year’s total to $41,000--plenty of motivation to keep going, especially since her parents don’t work because of poor health.

“This means a lot to the family,” said tennis instructor Nick Bollettieri, who considers Cacic among his favorite students. “Even if she does just fairly well, the income is very much needed.”

Cacic (pronounced KAY sick) is a Joliet, Ill., native who began playing tennis at 3. Her parents, born in Croatia, moved to Bradenton, Fla., when she was 10 so she could attend Bollettieri’s tennis academy.

Cacic turned professional at 15 and cracked the top 40 four years later, in 1994, before injuries halted her progress. Her career record of 257-199 includes one WTA Tour title, at Auckland in 1996, and last year she won four tournaments on the second-tier USTA circuit.

But her record in major events is abysmal.

“You’d like to perform well. The whole world is watching,” she said. “You’re not going to win everything, but it would be nice to do better. Everything happens for a reason. If I don’t know why now, maybe I’ll know in a few years.”

Her Grand Slam losing streak includes Paris (four defeats), New York (four), Melbourne (four) and Wimbledon (three). She has lost to players well known (Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, Amanda Coetzer) and unknown (Gloria Pizzichini, Flora Perfetti). She has lost in thrillers (8-6 in the third set) and in routs (such as Tuesday).

Montolio, a steady baseliner who loves to play on clay, was content merely to keep the ball in the court against Cacic, hitting lobs even on some service returns. Inevitably the American would end a long rally with an unforced error.

“She played not good tennis,” Montolio said.

At 5-6 and 140 pounds, Cacic is stocky and strong, with thick shoulders that give her serve and backhand considerable sizzle. But against Montolio she moved as if wearing ankle weights, reaching balls late and approaching the net with reluctance.

All of those Grand Slam losses are a lot of baggage to haul around the court.

“I’m not going to lie--I was nervous,” Cacic said.

She’s also grateful. Cacic’s ranking dipped in 1999 and 2000, partly because of injuries, and the last time she played in the French Open was three years ago, so she appreciates the privilege.

“I went on top of the Arc de Triomphe last week, and it’s the first time in seven years I’ve been here that I’ve done that,” she said. “I’m enjoying where I’m going. I’m enjoying playing.”

Cacic travels by herself, which gets a little lonely, she said. But she doesn’t mind the tour grind and hasn’t even thought about what she’ll do after retirement.

“She speaks as positively now as a person who is the world’s champion,” Bollettieri said. “With what she has learned from tennis, losing and winning, she’s going to have a wonderful life after tennis, and that’s important.”

She has learned you can’t win ‘em all. Sometimes you can’t win at all. But Cacic played at the French Open and gets to play at Wimbledon later this month, so maybe she’s already a winner.