Notes on a Drawsheet

Former No. 1 Arantxa remembered
Andre's Shanghai surprise; Hewitt top dog again; Changes for Home Depot WTA Championships

By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

Susan Mullane Camerawork USA, Inc.

There were always a bundle of things to like and dislike about Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, who retired on Tuesday after a fruitful 17-year career. The good: her tireless retrieving, her never-ending fight, her backhand in any direction, her speed, her on-court intellect, her politeness. The bad: the thousands of calls she questioned; her unwillingness to give most opponents credit in defeat ("It was just bad luck for me"), her forehand, her gamesmanship, her obsession with her status.

Nonetheless, Sanchez-Vicario took part in so may great, long matches over the past 15 years or so and added so much spice and bravado to a sometimes flat sport that it will sad to see her go – even though she is so far past her prime now that it's obvious she made the right call.

Of Arantxa's 29 singles titles, the one that comes most quickly to mind is her heart stopping 7-6(5), 0-6, 6-2 victory over the red hot Monica Seles in '98 Roland Garros final. After Seles had thumped Martina Hingis in the semis behind brutal groundies that reminded one of her pre-stabbing form, Sanchez-Vicario came into the match a serious underdog. But as she did in giving Serena Williams a three-set lesson in clay ourt tennis in the fourth round; in her come back from near death win over then teen Patty Schnyder in the quarters; and in her Napoleonic defense of the baseline in straight setting Lindsay Davenport in the semis, Arantxa simply willed herself a victory over a more talented player. She exhausted Monica in every rally that went beyond eight balls and must have run to Notre Dame and back in the victory – her fourth Slam title.

Sanchez-Vicario rose to prominence in 1989, becoming the first Spaniard to win the Roland Garros when she shocked No. 1 Steffi Graf in a tremendous three-set final. She also grabbed Roland Garros in 1994 by running down a few dozen Mary Pierce cannon blasts and won the '94 U.S. Open over a hobbled Steffi. She reached the Wimbledon final in '95 and lost a classic to Graf, and then was rolled over by Steffi in the '96 Wimbledon final. The Barcelona Bumblebee also reached the Australian Open finals in 1994 and 1995 and was crushed by Graf and Pierce.

While Seles was off the tour for two and half years, Arantxa was only player who could consistently give Steffi a struggle, even though Graf ended her career far ahead in their head to head match-ups. "She has given so much to tennis in her competitiveness on the court and her willpower, but always with that great smile. She has made history and I wish her all the best," said Graf.

ONLY NO. 1 SPANISH WOMAN
Between February and June 1995, Sanchez-Vicario held the world No. 1 singles ranking for a total of 12 weeks, the first and so far only Spanish woman to do so. When she became No. 1, her mother, Marissa (the most constant matronly presence on tour) bought her a gold No. 1 necklace, which she proudly wore every single day that she was the sport's queen. Sanchez was ranked amongst the top 10 virtually uninterrupted for 10 years (1989 to 1999). She was also ranked No. 1 in doubles in 1992.

Once Martina Hingis burst on the scene as a primetime player in 1997, it was apparent that Arantxa's days as a perennial Slam semifinalist were numbered. Hingis embarrassed her on so many occasions because Arantxa rarely could trick her into errors. Martina perhaps understood Arantxa's weaknesses better than anyone. Then came the rise of Venus and Serena as big time forces in 1999 and Arantxa began a slow downhill slide.

However, Arantxa is arguably the best player in Spanish history – male or female. While there aren't a lot of great Spanish women players lining up to replace Arantxa and the aging Conchita Martinez in the pro ranks, plenty of guys received inspiration from her, including Carlos Moya, who appropriately noted that Arantxa set the standard for his generation.

Here's a few of Sanchez's more outstanding statistics, which make her a lock for the Hall of Fame: She reached the semis or better at Roland Garros 10 times.
* She's one of only five women to have won more than 700 singles matches in her career
* Her $16,917,312 in career earnings ranks her No.4 all-time behind Graf, Martina Navratilova and Hingis.
* She led Spain to its first five Fed Cup victories, in 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1998.

Arantxa was never one to discuss her personal life in depth, but her highly publicized, semi-royal marriage to Joan Vehils in 2000 ended quickly in disaster and was source of major embarrassment to her. When she was married, it was expected that she would spend less time on tour and more at home, but Sanchez kept traveling at the same time and rarely took time to smell the roses outside of the gardens of whichever resort she was staying at.

Now she'll have plenty of time to discover a world that isn't always hemmed in by white lines.

"I feel that it's time for me to develop other aspects of my life," Sanchez-Vicario said. "Until now all my life was concentrated around tennis and this demands a lot of effort and exclusive dedication, but in return I have achieved everything that an athlete can dream: acknowledgment, victories and a lot of affection. … Leaving professional tennis was not an easy decision for me, but I sincerely believe that the moment has come to me for face it. I consider myself privileged in all aspects. My family stood beside me unconditionally throughout my career; I have not had many injuries; I was able to achieve professional success; I was supported by my friends; the media has treated me with the highest respect and they gave me the support that is needed for every professional. That's all an athlete can ask for! From this moment I want to live life outside of the tennis courts in order to achieve being happy, serve the society as another citizen and to be able to have a private life, just like any other person."

Vamos!, vamos, vamos!

Andre's Shanghai surprise
What to make of Andre Agassi's' two losses at the Maters Cup and his failure to strongly challenge Lleyton Hewitt for the No. 1 spot? Quite a bit and not much.

He double faulted on match point in his 7-5 2-6 7-6 (6) loss to Juan Carlos Ferrero, the same guy who knocked him out of Roland Garros. That's not a good sign.

He was a standout player at the Masters Series tournaments this year and came into Shanghai with chance to finish No. 1 – that's a very good sign.

However, he had a less than stellar year at the Slams, especially when you consider that his loss to Pete Sampras in the US Open final likely will be THE match that historians point to in the future when arguing that Sampras was a better player than Agassi. That's a negative.

He says that's he'll make another serious push in 2003, which shows he still motivated – a very good sign.

"I still believe I can improve," he said. "I know I have better tennis in me all the time and that's my motivation. I suppose I'll prepare (for next season) the way I always have, which is work hard and start as soon as possible. I approach next year with the expectation that it will be better. That's a good feeling."

Hewitt top dog again
Give it up to Lleyton Hewitt, who joined elite company in Shanghai when he became just the seventh player in the history of the ATP rankings to finish year-end No. 1 for two consecutive seasons.

Hewitt joins Pete Sampras (6), Jimmy Connors (5), John McEnroe (4), Ivan Lendl (3), Stefan Edberg (2) and Bjorn Borg (2) to finish No. 1 in back-to-back seasons. The '02 Wimbledon champ is the fourth player to rank No. 1 for every week in the ATP Entry System during the calendar year, joining Connors (1975-76), Lendl (1986-87) and Sampras (1997). That's truly impressive. "I'm over the moon to get this wonderful trophy again," Hewitt said.

"Only six other players have won No. 1 in two straight years. I'm honored to be up there with them."

Changes for Home Depot WTA Championships
Without getting too deeply into proposed changes for the Home Depot Championships for 2003 – which we will do in December – here are some changes that have a good chance at passing:
* Going to an 8-woman round robin in singles and 4 teams in doubles.
* Reducing the number of sessions so as to boost early-round attendance.
* Top players will be quietly encouraged to pair down their fall schedules so they aren't exhausted during the championships.
* Tournament owners Octagon and AEG/Staples Center will go all out to sell the tournament year-round in 2003, which they couldn't do this year.

FYI: While attendance was down from the tour's days in NYC, it was still 16,000 over Munich and there were good crowds on Sunday and Monday.

Some leftovers from Championships: Porshe is the WTA's new presenting sponsor in North America. The WTA will no longer seek a title sponsor. … Tretron Z TOUR is the new official ball of the WTA Tour. When's the last time anyone seen Tretorn balls in the U.S. – much less those popular retro canvas shoes with the cool blue triangle?

Monica Seles received the inaugural Sanex Hero of the Year Award, voted on by fans. … Dave Larson, formerly of Nike, has been named the WTA's Vice President of Marketing & Communications. Larson played varsity tennis at Stanford from 1974-78. Maybe he can give the slumping Lilia Osterloh some tips.