South Bay Must Be No. 1 Place for Tennis Lesson

Lindsay Davenport and Pete Sampras.

Pete Sampras and Lindsay Davenport.

Is there any doubt that the South Bay was the mecca, the center of tennis in 1998? Sampras and Davenport both spent their formative tennis years in and around Palos Verdes, mere ground strokes away from each other.

This is hardly new information but it is interesting, now that Davenport has joined Sampras as the two top-ranked players in the world.

So, a few final random thoughts on the 1998 tennis scene . . . while wondering if there is something special in the South Bay water.

Men’s player of the year: Sampras. He won his fifth Wimbledon title and finished ranked first for a record sixth consecutive season . . . some off year.

Women’s player of the year: Davenport. Proving that one does not have to be an overhyped teen prodigy, Davenport won the U.S. Open, her first Grand Slam singles title, without dropping a set.

Less than a month later she earned the bookend to that accomplishment, becoming the eighth player to reach No. 1 since the computer rankings began in 1975 and ending the 80-week reign of Martina Hingis.

Men’s comeback of the year: Andre Agassi. From Burbank to Hanover. Need we say more?

“He’s kind of a genius,” Alex Corretja said. “It’s not easy to go up and down, but he can do it.”

Women’s comeback of the year: Steffi Graf. Put down by the youngsters, and dismissed by nearly everyone else, Graf finally got some satisfaction after an injury-plagued year, winning at New Haven, Leipzig and Philadelphia.

She defeated the top-ranked Davenport in the Philadelphia final and beat Jana Novotna and Monica Seles before losing to Davenport in the semifinals at the season-ending Chase Championships in New York.

Men’s top rookie: Marat Safin. The young Russian who trains in Valencia, Spain, broke through at the French Open, defeating Agassi and defending champion Gustavo Kuerten in successive rounds.

But the 18-year-old went from speaking no English in April, during the first-round Davis Cup match at Atlanta, to holding entertaining news conferences at the French Open in late May. Apparently, his skills were just fine, even though Russian Davis Cup officials said otherwise.

Women’s top rookie: Serena Williams. Twice she was within two points of reaching the quarterfinals in her French Open debut, nearly defeating eventual champion Arantxa Sanchez Vicario. For her, it was a year of almosts, losing a tough three-setter to Irina Spirlea at the U.S. Open and losing to Hingis at the Lipton tournament after holding two match points.

Amateur player to watch: Zack Fleishman of Playa del Rey. The UCLA freshman came on strong late this year, leading the United States to the final of the Sunshine Cup against Spain this weekend at Key Biscayne, Fla.

The Sunshine Cup is a modified version of Davis Cup play, an international competition for players 18 and under. Fleishman took the leadership thing to a new dimension, asking his teammates to dye their hair red, white and blue. Sure hope it washes out.

No-slam wonders: John “I want to be Davis Cup player and captain, ITF president and everything else” McEnroe had more than his share of motivational hits in 1998. One pre-French Open statement is worth revisiting:

“The Spanish players that have been around, they have a tendency to choke up in the French,” he said.

Three Spaniards reached the semifinals at Roland Garros--Carlos Moya, Corretja and Felix Mantilla. Moya defeated Corretja in straight sets for the championship.

Nevertheless, Mac remains the most interesting figure in men’s tennis. Just ask him.

Run, Arantxa, run: Sanchez Vicario of Spain was supposed to be the female equivalent of Michael Chang. Too many miles and too many injuries were supposed to take a heavy toll in 1998.

But Sanchez Vicario was the most surprising Grand Slam champion on the women’s side, winning the French Open in a three-set struggle against sentimental favorite Seles.

Hingis had some insight into Sanchez Vicario’s success.

“You can see she runs forever, like Forrest Gump,” she said.

Shirtless in Spokane: One of the promising young Americans, Jan-Michael Gambill of Spokane, Wash., emerged as a popular figure among the preteen, teen and post-teen set. And lest we forget, Agassi too.

Agassi’s enthusiasm spawned some memorable musing at the men’s tournament at UCLA last summer.

“You know, if Dennis Rodman saw Jan-Michael without his shirt on, he’d want to put a dress on and go out with him,” Agassi said.

Agassi II: But that wasn’t Agassi’s most provocative quote in 1998. Far from it.

His target was USTA president Harry Marmion, and the issue was the decision to hold the Davis Cup semifinals against Italy in Milwaukee. Agassi was unable to play because of a scheduling conflict involving his charity event in Las Vegas.

The Milwaukee experience, a 4-1 loss to Italy, was an utter fiasco and the low point of American tennis in 1998. Agassi, who said he could have played the match at several West Coast locations, later lashed out against Marmion at the Grand Slam Cup in Munich.

“He was pathetic,” Agassi said. “I mean you have to be pretty pathetic to take the best U.S. Davis Cup player and absolutely make him never want to play again.

“That’s Harry Marmion. M-A-R-M-I-O-N.”

And finally: What would any year-end summation be without that irrepressible Croat, Goran Ivanisevic?

Ivanisevic, the most distraught Wimbledon finalist in recent years, recovered to serve another day and enlivened an ordinary first week at the U.S. Open.

He spoke at a news conference about a present he received for his birthday, handcuffs and a tube of chocolate.

“For the first time in my life, I see handcuffs,” he said. “This is pretty weird stuff, you know.”