THE tennisreporters.net NEWSLETTER: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 5
Where does Sampras stand for Davis Cup?
Schalken, umpires, holidays & the Amritraj clan
By Sandra Harwitt
tennisreporters.net
FROM THE U.S. OPEN – Does a vintage Pete Sampras performance against young gun Andy Roddick for a stunning 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 quarterfinal victory put Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe in a quandary?
Prior to this Open, Sampras has been on the down swing since he reached the final here last year. But this Grand Slam, Sampras has more than managed to pull it all together again, most especially when he toyed with Roddick, the so-called successor to his mighty throne. When the match ended, Sampras and Roddick embraced as the younger American acknowledged that Sampras is still a formidable superstar presence.
A 13-time Grand Slam champion -- he owns four U.S. Open titles -- Sampras had only won one set against Roddick in three meetings and that set came in an exhibition this July at the Moody Coliseum in Dallas that benefited the Tim & Tom Gullikson Foundation.
Now that Sampras has beaten Roddick, does that give him the right to expect a singles slot for the upcoming Davis Cup semifinal against France on clay at Roland Garros? Can McEnroe tell Sampras that despite his sensational showing here at the Open, the terre battue is not his surface and it would be less risky to go with Roddick and James Blake for singles?
Sampras weighed in on the Davis Cup issue prior to orchestrating his sensational win over Roddick, his best match since beating Andre Agassi in the quarterfinals here last year.
"Well, Pat has to put out the best team," Sampras said. "If he wants to put James in, I have no problem with that. For me to go over and play doubles, I don't know. I mean, it's not really my first choice. But I committed to the year. I don't think we're really worried about that now. We'll just see how this week goes."
Chatting after the match on USA network, John McEnroe mentioned Sampras playing singles in the Davis Cup semifinal to Jim Courier, the U.S. Davis Cup coach, and got an interesting response.
"Pete on the clay, I wouldn't count on him being in the tie," Courier said. "(Picking the team) that's your brother's job, I'm just the coach."
SCHALKEN REJOICING IN SEMIFINAL BERTH
While all focus was on the quarterfinal match between Sampras and Roddick, not many were paying attention to the other quarterfinal on Thursday between Dutchman Sjeng Schalken and Fernando Gonzalez of Chile.
In the end, Schalken became the first Dutchman since Tom Okker in 1971 to reach the Open semifinal with a 6-7, 6-3, 6-3, 6-7, 7-6 win over Gonzalez. Into his first career Grand Slam semifinal, Schalken is not thinking ahead to possibly winning the trophy, acknowledging that there are a few talented players in front of him.
"I'm happy to be in the semis," Schalken said. "I'm not so far, yet. Of course, today I had a little chance, we both had a chance to get to the semis. We were fighting hard for the one spot. From now on, I'm a little bit more relaxed than before. I'll just see what comes."
Schalken was quick to say he still can't believe that he's still in the hunt here at the Open now that the draw has dwindled down to the final four – Andre Agassi against defending champion Lleyton Hewitt and Schalken against Sampras.
"It's still not settled down in my mind, because my name is between three very big players," Schalken said. "It feels very good. I worked hard for it. This moment, it's the best I've ever done in a tournament."
Women's semi schedule conflicts with Jewish holiday
Don't be surprised if you tune in to CBS to watch the women's semifinal on Friday and see a lot of empty seats in the stadium.
As the schedule was devised for the day, the first women's semifinal between Venus Williams and Amelie Mauresmo will start not before 2:45 p.m. Eastern time and the second match between Serena Williams and Lindsay Davenport won't get underway before 4:55 p.m.
That scheduling has turned into a problem for Jewish fans, many of who presumed that they would be able to catch both women's semifinals before heading to synagogue or family dinners by sundown to celebrate the start of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.
When asked about the scheduling, USTA officials said that CBS was actually bidding to put one of the semifinals at 7:00 p.m. to have more of a primetime slot.
Umpire charges USTA with racism
Cecil Hollins, an attorney who has been a USTA certified tennis umpire since 1991, has filed a complaint with the United State Equal Employment Opportunity Commission citing that the United States Tennis Association "is engaged in racially motivated discriminatory practices toward African-Americans, myself included."
Hollins, who used to hold a gold badge of certification from the ITF (International Tennis Federation) was bumped down to silver status in 1999, but says he was told it had nothing to do with his performance on the job.
The complaint also points out that no qualified African-American has umpired the men's or women's final at the U.S. Open. Hollins says he is the only American man who has held ITF gold badge distinction that has not umpired either a men's or women's final at the Open.
Hollins claims his interest in forming an United States Tennis Umpires Association similar to the one that exists in Britain has not been well received by officialdom. The bottom line that Hollins hopes to achieve through his EEOC complaint is "fairness and a creation of the U.S. Tennis Umpires Association."
For their part, the USTA has declined to comment on the EEOC complaint that Hollins has filed.
Rooting for four family members
Sitting in the players' lounge on Thursday afternoon, Helen Amritraj was quite confident that she has made a bit of U.S. Open history this year.
Amritraj, a native of Long Island, is sure she must be the only person on-site who had four family members to root for during the Grand Slam.
Husband, Anand, participated in the senior's event as did her brother-in-law, Anand's brother Vijay.
Then there was her 18-year-old son, Stephen and 18-year-old nephew/godson, Prakash, who lost a first round doubles match last week. Prakash, who won the coveted 18's hardcourt title at Kalamazoo last month and lost in the first round of the singles as well, is taking this fall's sophomore semester off from USC to try his luck on tour. Stephen has just completed the first week of his freshman year at Duke.
