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EXCLUSIVE:
THE SCOOP: TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 27
Seles,
Navratilova object to ITF'S potential fine of U.S. Fed Cup team
By
Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net
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Susan
Mullane
Camerawork USA, Inc.
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U.S.
legends Monica Seles and Martina Navratilova strongly disagree
with the
International Tennis Federation's potential imposition of a fine
against the U.S. Tennis Association for pulling its team out of
the recent Fed Cup final in the wake of the 9-11 terrorist attacks.
"It's
very unfortunate and very difficult situation to go over there
when the FBI was advising us not too," said Seles of the
Nov. 5-11 competition that was played in Madrid and won by Belgium.
"We shouldn't be fined. It's unfortunate. … We've supported
Fed Cup for so many years. Plus, we should have been playing the
tie at home anyway."
An
ITF official told tennisreporters.net
that the ITF may fine the USTA for its pullout but has put off
its decision until its February meeting. The U.S. will not be
suspended from next year's competition and will face Austria in
the opening round at home April 27-28.
Navratilova,
a former Fed Cup stalwart, said she too disagreed with a fine.
"I don't agree with that," said Navratilova, who will
be playing Seles in an exhibition at the Mohegan Sun resort in
Connecticut on Dec. 1. "There
shouldn't be fines. If it hadn't been for 9-11, the U.S. would
have played."
Belgium
won the title behind Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin, blowing
out
Russia in the final match. During the week, Belgian captain Ivo
Van Aken
inferred that one of the reasons that two-time defending champion
U.S. didn't
play was because they didn't want to compete on clay.
Seles
got a big laugh out of Van Aken's contention that they shied away
from
playing on red dirt.
"I don't think so," said Seles. "I'm a French Open
champion. So, no."
USTA Fed Cup Committee chairwoman Carol Graebner, a former Fed
Cup player
herself, is none too pleased that a sanction is being considered.
""It's an
outrage that the ITF is even considering it," Graebner said.
"[U.S. Captain]
Billie Jean King and I have been involved and supporting Fed Cup
for the last
38 years. The ITF should know that if we couldn't go, it was for
a very
legitimate reason."
Seles
was slated to play along with reigning French Open champion Jennifer
Capriati before the USTA decided to pull its team.
SELES
SAYS SHE WOULD HAVE TRAVELED
Seles
said that she would have gone if called on by U.S. Caption Billie
Jean
King, despite the potential threat. "If Billie would have
asked me, I would
have played," she said. " I played right way after 9-11
in Brazil. Your life
has to go on."
If asked to play doubles, Navratilova said that she would have
traveled to
Spain, too. "I would have gone," she said. "I've
played a few times since 9-11 and have gone to Europe. Like Monica
says, life goes on. I just have to say, who are
we to think that the Taliban or anyone else would go after female
tennis
players. I think it's difficult to think we were in any kind of
danger and
that anybody would have gone after us. They would have gone after
the World
Series or the NBA. They wouldn't bother with women."
Graebner
said that the USTA was advised by security specialists that sending
a team would be "risky." While there were no terrorist
incidents at Fed Cup,
a car bomb did go off before the competition started about two
miles from the
venue, injuring about 100 people. Police suspected the Basque
separatist
group ETA of setting off the explosion. Reports have also come
out in the
past couple weeks that there are Al Qaeda terrorist cells operating
in Madrid.
"The hotel that we had booked was right across the square
from where the bomb
went off," Graebner said. "We were advised that to send
a flag-waving team of
high profile athletes to compete was risky. However, the decision
was left up
to the USTA. How responsible would it have been for us to send
a team under
those conditions? If something would have happened, people would
have thought
we were out of our mind."
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