Game Isn’t Over; It’s AEG’s Move

Three weeks of tennis in Southern California--something of a mini-Slam with better weather and smaller crowds--were bound to answer some questions heading into the U.S. Open, create new ones and leave others dangling.

The major lingering question from the last few weeks: Will they stay or will they go?

The Carson issue hovered over the proceedings at UCLA and Manhattan Beach like the Goodyear Blimp (of the three just-completed tournaments, the middle one, at Carlsbad, remains unaffected).

It might appear that the men’s event at UCLA and the women’s tournament at Manhattan Beach, which finished Sunday, are staying put and won’t be moving to the new sports complex under construction in Carson, to be completed by the Anschutz Entertainment Group by next summer. The managers of both events were quite public in saying so.

One official even said it on the court after the women’s doubles final at the Manhattan Country Club. The traveling road show will be back next year.

Does this mean the AEG courtship is over? No.

Expect more negotiations, more countermoves, more proposals and more lines in the sand. The WTA was not pleased with one headline implying it wanted the women’s tournament to stay at Manhattan Beach. International Management Group, which owns and runs the tournament, controls the location, not the WTA.

The WTA is walking a fine line, not wanting to upset its new partner AEG, which is staging the season-ending championships at Staples Center in November, or IMG.

At least Manhattan Beach does not have the problem UCLA will be facing next year. This week’s event at Washington, D.C., which includes Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick, moves from August to July in 2003, and will be played the same week as the Los Angeles event.

Virtually no one is pleased by this turn of events. Washington is a party in an antitrust lawsuit against the ATP, and settlement talks have been fruitless.

Next year’s head-to-head conflict will take away stars from both events, particularly American players. Washington is run by SFX Sports Group, which represents Roddick, Los Angeles finalist Jan-Michael Gambill and winner Agassi.

Perry Rogers, Agassi’s longtime agent, said Monday that his client will play Washington next year. Agassi is attempting this week to win for the sixth time there.

“Washington has been a good start to the summer season for Andre even before they moved to the end of the summer,” Rogers said. “It’s a good court. Andre likes the hot conditions. That’s the plan. We’re hoping the lawsuit gets worked out. It’s unfair to everybody.”

Even though the UCLA tournament lost the world’s No. 1-ranked player, Lleyton Hewitt of Australia, because of illness on the eve of the event, there was not a huge drop-off in attendance, thanks to Agassi’s presence.

Still, Rogers felt confident Agassi will return to this area--at some point. “There’s no way Andre has played his last match in L.A.,” he said.

Agassi’s star power puts people in the stands like no one else. It’s clear that diluted fields won’t help television packages in either the Washington or Los Angeles market.

“No other sport would go out and do that,” USA Network senior vice president Gordon Beck said of the Washington-Los Angeles conflict. “That is a perfect example of what this initiative is trying to eliminate.”

“This initiative” is the new broadcast deal the cable network and the United States Tennis Assn. announced Monday. As part of the six-year extension of the network’s domestic rights to the U.S. Open, USA also will broadcast selected summer hard-court tournaments leading up to the Open.

Southland Report Card

Best men’s match: Agassi’s quarterfinal victory over Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil in three sets. Agassi put it best beforehand when he said it was too bad they had to meet so early.

Best women’s performance: Venus Williams at Carlsbad, losing only one set in winning her third straight title there, shifting the pressure back to her younger sister Serena heading into the U.S. Open.

Best showing by someone not named Williams: At Manhattan Beach, knee surgery survivor Chanda Rubin had the best tournament of her career, knocking off No. 1-ranked Serena Williams (ending her 21-match winning streak), No. 5 Jelena Dokic in the semifinals and defending champion Lindsay Davenport in a compelling final.

Twilight zone moment: You might think it would be the time violation called against Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia on match point at Carlsbad, giving the victory to Ai Sugiyama, but that’s not even close.

It was the semifinal at Manhattan Beach between Dokic and Rubin. Dokic, who played impressively in the quarterfinals, looked like a pale imitation of herself, losing, 6-0, 6-2, in 41 minutes. Rubin was as stunned as anyone, saying Dokic went into “semi-tank mode.”

Dokic said she wasn’t feeling well. But other sources said she appeared to be disturbed by personal problems on the final weekend at Manhattan Beach, one of them unfolding moments before the semifinal. And that seems to be a more credible explanation.