| PIERCE
NOW KNOWS SHE'S A FRENCHWOMAN
Can the US pull off a Fed Cup miracle?
Agassi/Graf mansion still for sale; Paradorn's
love troubles
By
Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net
Susan Mullane/Camerawork USA
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| Lisa Raymond carries the American
burden. |
So now it comes down to
this for US Fed Cup captain Billie Jean King and coach Zina Garrison
in the Fed Cup final: beating a strong squad (France) for the
first time this year.
Due to various pullouts and injuries, the US cruised to victories
over the Czech Republic, Italy and Belgium. Missing from action
in these ties were the competent likes of Silvia Farina-Elia,
Flavia Pennetta, Justine Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters.
Of course in Moscow, the US is also without its six top players:
Serena and Venus Williams, Jennifer Capriati, Lindsay Davenport,
Monica Seles and Chanda Rubin. So in a sense, King has brought
a "C' team with her, at least in singles.
Now it's up to old warhorse Lisa Raymond to pull off the best
two days of her career. If Raymond doesn't come through in at
least two out of her three matches, the US is likely to be toast.
It would be foolish to count on Meghann Shaughnessy to win two
matches, given that she barely beat a Belgian junior and then
lost to the less-than-spectacular Els Callens. Given how well
Amelie Mauresmo has played in the last three weeks, it's hard
to imagine Raymond beating her. The Philadelphia native will have
to go for broke and pray that Mauresmo gets into a serving funk.
If they were playing on a public court with no one watching, Shaughnessy
would have a very good chance against Mary Pierce – who
is playing for France – because she moves better than the
two-time Slam champ and should be able to hang with her from the
baseline. But even a Pierce at 70 percent of her physical capabilities
in a big match is a good 50 percent mentally stronger than Meghann.
King and Garrison will have to find a way to calm the Arizonan
down or the US could be staring at a 0-2 deficit heading into
the doubles, where Martina Navratilova/Raymond shouldn’t
have too many problems against Emilie Loit/Pierce.
Susan Mullane/
Camerawork USA |
| Els Callens of Belgium |
Speaking of Pierce, given
that she lives in the US and has only spent about two-and-half
years of her life in France (and that's being generous), she must
feel a little odd playing against the red, white and blue. However,
it's not the first time Pierce has played against Aunt Sammy;
in 1995, the last time these two nations met, Pierce took out
Mary Joe Fernandez 7-6(1), 6-3, but lost to Lindsay Davenport
6-3, 4-6, 6-0. The US beat France 3-2 in Turnberry Isle, Fla.,
far closer to Pierce's Gator State home than Moscow is. Pierce
is calling this tie her "second tennis life."
Before she left for Moscow, Anastasia Myskina told tennisreporters.net
that her greatest wish was to lead Russia to the Fed Cup title.
The emotional Russian must be crushed after posting a great victory
over Pierce on day one and then falling to Mauresmo 6-7 (3), 6-3,
6-4 on day two. Don't blame it all on Myskina. Young Vera Zvonareva
took two losses, most significantly her 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 defeat to
Pierce.
Who's to blame for the home team going down? Perhaps Vera, but
she's just a teen. Put the blame squarely on the shoulders of
hypercritical Russian coach Shamil Tarpischev, who picked Vera
over both Elena Dementieva and Nadia Petrova. Somehow, Tarpischev
forgot that both Dementieva and Petrova played far better tennis
in the fall than Vera did and weren’t as likely to choke.
Experience matters a great deal in team competitions, a lesson
that Tarpischev has now learned.
Agassi/Graf mansion still for sale
Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf's Tiburon,
Calif. mansion is still for sale and listing for $24.5 million,
although local brokers tell tr.net that the superstar
couple will be lucky to fetch $15 million in this soft market
for multimillionaires.
Here's the description: "Approximately 3.5 acres of exquisitely
landscaped grounds, abundant recreational facilities, retreat-like
privacy, and views of the Golden Gate and the entire San Francisco
skyline. Main residence of approximately 10,500 sq. ft., originally
constructed circa 1976 and lavishly remodeled and expanded from
1988 through 1991, includes and enormous master-suite wing, two
guest suites (two bedrooms, two baths each), solarium, music room,
theater and guest wing. Additional detached structures include
the guest quarters, tennis court cabana, the pool bar and the
four-bedroom, four-bath staff quarters of approximately 2,500
sq. ft., with two fireplaces, two-car garage and separate gated
entry. Parking includes the four-car garage and three-car carport,
both attached to the main residence, the two-car garage attached
to the staff quarters and multiple-car parking availability inside
the motor court. The property offers a total of eleven bedrooms,
eleven full and two half baths."
Paradorn's
love troubles
Tata Young
|
Is it just us, or do readers
also think that 24-year-old Paradorn Srichaphan is too old to
be told what to do by his parents when it comes to romances.
According to both AFP and the Bangkok Post, both of parents –
his omnipresent dad and coach Chanachai and his mother, Ubon,
objected to the relationship with Thai singer Tata Young and ended
it.
"I was sorry that my father felt so stressed after the news
(of the relationship) broke. And to end all this, I decided not
to see her again," Paradorn told The Nation newspaper.
Such is the life of the free-swinging, mega tennis celebrity,
who is so scorched by his nation’s microscope that even
the Bangkok Post analyzed that the reason why Paradorn
might have lost in the quarters of the Thailand Open was because
of his relationships with Tata.
Since when is the Thailand Open a mini-version of Wimbledon?
Chanachai even noted that, "There have been lots of faxes
and phone calls from Paradorn's fans expressing their disapproval
of the relationship," while Ubol had predicted the relationship
would not last.
Apparently there is no love loss
for Tata amongst certain traditional Thais. The Nation
noted that the relationship "triggered strong responses from
his mother and the so-called Hate Tata club, a loose alliance
of people which believes she's cocky and disregards traditional
Thai norms of behavior."
Tata apparently revealed details of the relationship on a TV show
while the Siam Post said the affair was a promotional
exercise for the singer whose album is not selling well. "It
was widely said that the romance was publicized by the company
which represents Tata Young and which organized the ATP tournament.
It was to promote the tournament and also Tata herself,"
the Post said.
Shift back to Andre: the Tata Affair smells an awful lot like
the treatment that Agassi’ ex-wife Brooke Shields received
the during her days starring in the "Suddenly Susan"
TV series.
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