Tennis Menu Is Crowded This Week

The players have had to decide where to compete. Television networks have had to pick their spots. And officials running the three professional tennis tournaments in the U.S. this week have had to grin and bear it.

This is what happens when tournaments collide.

The Mercedes-Benz Cup starts main-draw play at the Los Angeles Tennis Center at UCLA today and continues through Sunday -- the same days as the Acura Classic women’s tournament at La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif., and another men’s event, the Legg Mason Classic in Washington, D.C.

It’s a dual problem for Bob Kramer, director of the 77th annual Mercedes-Benz Cup. Not only did his field lose such regular L.A. entries as Andre Agassi and the doubles team of Bob and Mike Bryan to the Washington event, his men’s tournament will have to compete for attendance with the women’s event at La Costa.

“I don’t really see it as too much of a problem,” Kramer said. “There’s lots of great tennis and plenty of tennis fans to go around.”

Although Agassi and the Bryans -- both handled by SFX Sports Group, which promotes the Washington event -- won’t be in the Mercedes-Benz Cup, Kramer does have marquee talent.

Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt, the former No. 1-ranked player, is seeded first.

Mark Philippoussis, the Wimbledon runner-up, is seeded fifth. It will be the Aussie’s first tournament since reaching the final in England as an unseeded upstart three weeks ago. A San Diego resident, he opted for the L.A. field.

The L.A. tournament also has No. 9-ranked Sebastien Grosjean of France, No. 12 Sjeng Schalken of Netherlands and No. 13 Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil, along with Marat Safin of Russia, soon-to-be-retired Michael Chang and Jan-Michael Gambill, last year’s L.A. tournament runner-up to Agassi.

The draw for the Acura tournament, with a total purse of $1 million for the first time, includes seven of the top 10 players in the world, and the strong field is being counted on to sway fans deciding which Southland tournament to attend.

“I don’t think we’ve noticed much of a difference,” said Acura tournament co-director Raquel Giscafre. “I think we draw sort of different crowds, and having the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 players in the world is an incredible attraction.”

That would be Serena Williams, Belgium’s Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne, respectively. Venus Williams, ranked No. 4 and the champion at the San Diego-area tour stop the last three years, withdrew last week because of a strained abdominal muscle, opening the way for younger sister Serena’s first appearance in the event’s singles draw. Aside from Grand Slam events, the sisters typically do not enter the same tournaments.

Both Southland events will be without notable players because of lingering injuries. Missing from L.A. will be Germany’s Tommy Haas (shoulder), Sweden’s Thomas Johansson (knee) and Newport Beach resident Taylor Dent (wrist). Besides Venus Williams, others absent from La Costa are Monica Seles (foot) and Russia’s Anna Kournikova (back).

“Thank God there’s so many good names in women’s tennis right now,” Giscafre said.

Television coverage of the Mercedes-Benz tournament will be split between Fox Sports Net and the Tennis Channel. Fox Sports Net will televise the title match live Sunday while the Tennis Channel shows the Legg Mason final.

The Tennis Channel, a new 24-hour specialty channel available through cable-service providers in Rancho Palos Verdes, Orange County, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Pasadena and San Fernando Valley areas, also will telecast early rounds of the Legg Mason and the Mercedes-Benz tournaments. But, faced with a schedule conflict, the new network will stay away from the Acura event, which will be telecast by Fox Sports Net and KABC-TV Channel 7.

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Same-Day Service

*--* ACURA CLASSIC

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* What: 2003 Acura Classic.

* When: Today through Sunday.

* Where: La Costa Resort and Spa, Carlsbad.

* Format: 48-player singles main draw and 16-team doubles draw.

* Prize money: $1 million, including $148,000 winner’s purse.

* Seedings: 1. Serena Williams, 2. Kim Clijsters, 3. Justine Henin-Hardenne, 4. Lindsay Davenport, 5. Jennifer Capriati, 6. Chanda Rubin, 7. Daniela Hantuchova, 8. Ai Sugiyama.

* TV: Semifinals, Saturday, 1 and 7 p.m., on Fox Sports Net; final, Sunday, 1 p.m., on Channel 7.

* Tickets/Information: (760) 438-5683 or www.acuraclassic.com.

*--* MERCEDES-BENZ CUP

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* What: 2003 Mercedes-Benz Cup.

* When: Today through Sunday.

* Where: Los Angeles Tennis Center, UCLA.

* Format: 32-player singles main draw and 16-team doubles draw.

* Prize money: $380,000, including $52,000 winner’s purse.

* Seedings: 1. Lleyton Hewitt, 2. Sebastien Grosjean, 3. Sjeng Schalken, 4. Gustavo Kuerten, 5. Mark Philippoussis, 6. Marat Safin, 7. Wayne Ferreira, 8. Vincent Spadea.

* TV: Fox Sports Net: Semifinals, Saturday, 3 and 7 p.m.; final, Sunday, 1 p.m. The Tennis Channel: Tuesday through Friday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. and 7:30-9:30 p.m.; Saturday, 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, 3 p.m. (doubles final).

* Tickets/Information: (310) 824-1010 or www.mercedes-benzcup.com.