TR.net ARTICLES AND PHOTOS AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE
Click here for more information.

Links above in yellow for TR.net members only.

THE SCOOP: WEDNESDAY, MAY 29

Serena Williams: an American in Paris
Is Ferrero finished? Is Sanchez-Vicario ready to retire?

By Sandra Harwitt
tennisreporters.net

FROM ROLAND GARROS – These days, Serena Williams is an American in Paris donning Cameroon colors.

Williams, considered by many the favorite to take the title at Roland Garros this year, arrived for her debut match of 2002 wearing an outfit that conjured up a vision of a grasshopper – green dress and bright yellow knee socks. Here’s the Cameroon connection – Serena endorses Puma clothing and Puma is dressing the Cameroon soccer team at the World Cup in Japan. Somewhere along the line, someone at Puma decided it would be dandy to dress the American in a similar outfit to coincide with the international soccer competition.

“I’m with Puma – Cameroon is a Puma team,” said Williams, explaining the flashy attire after taking a quick 63, 6-0 win over Martina Sucha of Slovakia. “Puma came up with this idea for me during the French Open to wear a Cameroon outfit, which is really exciting.”

While Serena suggested she is supporting the Cameroon team, she also made mention that she’s hoping the U.S does well, which leads to confusion as to where her allegiance really lies – home turf or fashion statement.

“I mean, we Americans aren’t really into – we call it soccer – but lately I’ve been watching a lot of the football or soccer,” Williams said, confusing the name of one of the American soccer stars as Cobi Johnson instead of Cobi Jones.

Having never won a tournament on clay before the Italian Open 10 days ago, Williams is now considered a hot prospect for the title at Roland Garros. She also reached the final of the Berlin tournament, which made her 9 and 1 on the European clay in two tune-up tournaments played.

At least for now, Williams appears to have tossed aside her frequently careless nature on court and has hunkered down for every match played. “I’m more serious about my matches,” Williams said. “I take every match as the finals of a Grand Slam because no matter who you play, people want to beat you, I think. I go out there and am very serious each and every time I stepped out onto the court.”

Williams said she had something of an epiphany during last year’s tournament in Canada when she got “angry” at herself for being behind in a match she should have been winning. She points to that occasion as the one that turned things around for her and helped her to be more focused towards reaching her goals – winning more Grand Slam trophies to add to her 1999 U.S. Open trinket.

'SICK OF LOSING'
“(It’s) just the fact that I’m sick of losing,” Williams said. “I got tired of losing to the same people. I just got tired of it.”

Now we get to see how Serena handles the pressure of being one of the favorites at the one Grand Slam that the court surface often did not seem to be in her favor. For now, she’s definitely talking with an air of self-assurance, saying, “I’m in great shape. I played a few tournaments, so I’m in tournament shape. I’m really going to go out here and most of all just have fun. Whatever happens, happens.”

And whatever does happen, it will be happening in the green and yellow of the Cameroon’s despite the fact that Serena is a red, white and blue Yankee Doodle Dandy. And if all else fails, the outfit might blind a few opponents with its brightness.

Is Ferrero finished?

Juan Carlos Ferrero, the 11th-seeded Spaniard considered to be a likely candidate for success at Roland Garros might never see the light of day in his second round match against Nicolas Coutelet of France. Ferrero was seen heading off to the hospital after injuring his right foot during practice on Wednesday. This unfortunate scenario could certainly work to the benefit of Andre Agassi, who is located in the same quarter, of the bottom half of the draw, as Ferrero. Agassi’s quarter of the draw started looking lighter on Tuesday when eighth-seeded Swiss Roger Federer took a three-set tumble against Moroccan Hicham Arazi in the first round.

Is Sanchez-Vicario ready to retire?

When 30-year-old Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, the grand dame of Spanish tennis, was solidly trounced by teen compatriot Marta Marrero 6-0, 6-1 in the first round on Wednesday, she told a small group of Spanish speaking reporters that she is going to take another look at her status in the game.

Sanchez-Vicario, a four-time Grand Slam champion, told the reporters after the 54-minute loss that “I’m going to take some time to get a rest and to think what I can do, but it’s not as if I were to get any ideas of going into retirement or not, because that’s not really a decision that one makes because of losing like I did today.

The Spaniard, who won at Roland Garros on three occasions, most recently in 1998, has never before lost in the first round here in 16 consecutive visits. And that has to be weighing heavily on her mind whether she’s thinking retirement or not.

While the 19-year-old Marrero was signaling there’s a changing of the guard afoot in Spanish tennis, Sanchez-Vicario was signaling that she’s wavering on playing Wimbledon and beyond.
“This is a younger generation of tennis players from Spain, and she’s 10 or 11 years younger than I am, of course this counts,” she said. “But I think that it’s a good thing that increasingly you have young people coming into the game, and she’s had a more solid game this time around. I wasn’t able to get into the game at any point in time. She has the future ahead of her.”

Sanchez-Vicario, who only won 22 of 76 points in the match and posted 32 unforced errors on the day, revealed that she found it difficult to work her way into the match, but was insistent that she didn’t see the loss as a major defeat or anything near that cataclysmic.

The former world No. 1 ended last season in the 17th ranking position and did manage to capture titles at Porto and Madrid. This year has been one filled with marginal results for Sanchez-Vicario, who advanced to the quarterfinals only once, at the Indian Wells tournament. She’s now played in 14 events, including the Hopman Cup team competition in January and Fed Cup in April, putting together a 14-12 win-loss record.

“I’m not particularly happy about the way I’ve been playing, but it’s not the end of the world either,” Sanchez-Vicario said. “Of course, I just hope that I can begin playing better again.”

In terms of her personal life, 2001 was an extremely emotional year off the court for Sanchez-Vicario. Married on July 20, 2000 to long time beau, Joan Vehils, in an elaborate affair that included the sister of King Juan Carlos of Spain and an emissary of the Pope, by 2001 the marriage had crumbled. These days, Sanchez-Vicario is romantically linked to Antonio Hernandez, her coach of one year.

There’s no denying that Sanchez-Vicario’s game has slipped the past few years, but it was hard to suggest that she step off-court since it remained so clear to see she still enjoyed playing the game. But in recent weeks it appears that the lack of results is beginning to frustrate the player that famed tennis columnist Bud Collins long ago anointed “The Bumblebee” for her quick court coverage. If this is the case and the joy has gone out of the sport for Sanchez-Vicario then maybe it is time for her to walk off into the sunset to a new challenge.