Competing Events Cost Fans

Never before had Arlen Kantarian made so much sense. The USTA’s chief executive of professional tennis, having pulled up a chair to chat at Wimbledon, took out a handful of brochures and tentative plans regarding his favorite topic, a summer series leading up to the U.S. Open.

You hear words such as cohesion, synergy and other assorted corporate-speak phrases, and the mind tends to drift, wondering such things as how many days it is possible to go without doing laundry and why the office seems slow to get on the David Nalbandian bandwagon.

But back to Arlen, who could easily be dismissed as an energetic marketing guy similar to the television character Arliss.

That, however, would be unfair. Unlike Arliss, Arlen has actually been entertaining in a sport desperate for such things. And, post-Wimbledon, it is painfully obvious that clarity is needed, immediately, in figuring out the summer leading up to the U.S. Open.

Nowhere is the confusion more apparent than Southern California. For years, it was relatively simple: There were three consecutive weeks of hard-court tennis, starting with the Mercedes-Benz Cup at UCLA, then the Acura Classic at La Costa, and finishing with the JPMorgan Chase Open at Manhattan Beach.

Now, confusion reigns, and even longtime tennis fans are rightly confused. The only thing consistent from last year is that UCLA starts off the local series, running Monday through Sunday.

What is different is that what was a three-week schedule has been compressed into two. UCLA conflicts with two tournaments. In Southern California, it goes head-to-head against La Costa, which also runs Monday-Sunday. Nationally, the men compete with an ATP event in Washington.

This explains why Andre Agassi has chosen not to play at UCLA for the first time in years. (He pulled out in 2000 because of an injured back but had been scheduled to appear.) Agassi has won Los Angeles the last two years, but has been even more successful in Washington, which is run by his management company, SFX Sports.

So Agassi, Andy Roddick and James Blake will be on the East Coast next week. Among those in Los Angeles are former No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt of Australia, Wimbledon finalist Mark Philippoussis of Australia, Wimbledon semifinalist Sebastien Grosjean of France, Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil, Taylor Dent and Michael Chang, who is making another stop on his retirement tour.

The cast seems to be changing daily at La Costa. Three-time defending champion Venus Williams withdrew last week because she is still recovering from an abdominal injury, as did Monica Seles, who has an injured foot. In Venus’ spot is her younger sister, Serena Williams, the reigning Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion, but that is now questionable because she has withdrawn from an event at Stanford this week because of a sore knee.

As for the Manhattan Beach event, it is no more, having been replaced by Carson on the circuit. The women will be breaking in the tennis facility at the new Home Depot Center and instead of a Sunday start, the tournament will begin on Aug. 4, a Monday.

Tournament director Gus Sampras said the event will utilize three courts rather than the two it did in Manhattan Beach. The main show court has about 8,000 permanent seats and the two outside courts will have seating for 500-750, Sampras said.

“It’s a first-class event going to take the next step,” he said. “There’s the same quality of tennis. The player field is just as strong, if not better.”

Serena Williams, who won Manhattan Beach in 1999 and 2000, is entered at Carson. With La Costa already on her schedule, she will be playing in consecutive tournaments, a rarity. Others entered in Carson include Kim Clijsters, Lindsay Davenport and defending champion Chanda Rubin. Sampras said that Ashley Harkleroad entered and that Russian youngster Maria Sharapova probably would get a wild-card spot, if she didn’t get in via direct entry.

It is clear that Venus Williams won’t be playing anywhere anytime soon.

“I’m not sure how long she might be out,” Serena said in a conference call on Friday.

“However long it is, I don’t think she’s going to come back until she’s feeling good. But she’s feeling much better already.”

It wouldn’t be a conference call with Serena without the usual difficulty with her cellphone when her battery went low and she had to switch to a speakerphone. Though she wasn’t overly specific on the call about her recent off-court activities, she had been more loquacious about upcoming acting roles just after winning Wimbledon, sitting down with a handful of American reporters.

Martina Navratilova had admired how the Williamses were able to stay focused on tennis despite their many outside interests.

“I have a lot of time on my hands,” Serena said. “As a tennis player, I’m sitting around a lot in the hotel or in the house. My parents have always taught us not to be lazy with our minds and keep diligent. I can’t sit down for too long and not do anything, I can’t watch TV for week in and week out. I just can’t do it.

“I have to be doing something that’s going to improve me. I can’t just sit down and not do anything, and I can’t be around people who are doing that either. I have to be around people who are trying to go forward in their lives and try to be positive. It just keeps me busy and plus it keeps me relaxed more than anything. I’m not the type of person that can just do one thing, year in and year out.”