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EXCLUSIVE
O'CONNOR TALKS ABOUT HIGH EXPECTATIONS
Pete’s friend believes he’ll play the Grand Slams
Saddlebrook to build stadium
Gambill goes Playboy
Is Kendrick newest tennis matinee idol?
By Sandra Harwitt
tennisreporters.net
FROM THE INTERNATIONAL TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS IN DELRAY BEACH, FLA. – Now that Pete Sampras has pulled out of the latest two events he was entered into – the Pacific Life Open and the NASDAQ-100 Open – everyone is continuing to speculate as to whether the 14-time Grand Slam winner will return to the game.
Kevin O’Connor of the Saddlebrook Resort remains a good friend of Pete’s going back to the years that Sampras lived in Tampa. O’Connor, who spoke to Sampras last month, stopped to chat with tennisreporters.net and said he would not be surprised to see his friend return to the court later in the year.
"I think he might play at the majors," O’Connor said as headed out to watch Mardy Fish, who trains at Saddlebrook, play Marcelo Rios in the Saturday night semifinal. "You know Pete makes it so burdensome for himself because he only really wants to play at 100 percent. It he’s not in a 100 percent position he doesn’t want to go to a tournament. That’s because he sets his standard for himself so high. If he’s not stroking the ball like he wants to be doing, he won’t come out because he goes to every tournament believing he’s ready to win."
When O’Connor suggested that Sampras might only show at the Grand Slams, tr.net asked if he didn’t think it would be tough for Sampras to perform without playing advanced matches.
"No, I don’t think so," O’Connor said. "You have to remember that Pete has 10 years under his belt to fall back on. I don’t think that would be a problem for Pete – he’s used to always getting to the round-of-16, quarterfinals, semifinals wherever he goes."
O’Connor certainly didn’t hesitate about Pete being able to head to Wimbledon without matches – after all, he is the greatest grass court player in the world with seven Wimbledon trophies to his credit. He did, however, pause momentarily when wondering about Sampras and Roland Garros. But without hesitating too long, O’Connor said he couldn’t imagine Sampras not playing the French if he was going to play again.
Saddlebrook to build stadium
O’Connor also tells tr.net that the Saddlebrook Resort has received approval to build a permanent 3,500 seat stadium in which temporary seats could be added to make room for 5,000. Pasco County has not only donated 20 acres but also $5.8 million to help fund the project. The stadium will be built by the Rosetti architectural firm, the same people who built the US Open stadium court, NASDAQ-100 Open stadium court and the Pacific Life Open stadium.
The resort is hoping to entice a Davis Cup or Fed Cup to its doors and also believes they would be a perfect site for Challenger and Satellite events as well as possible ATP tour and WTA Tour events. O’Connor estimates the stadium should be complete within 18 to 24 months.
Gambill goes Playboy
Look for Jan-Michael Gambill in your next issue of Playboy.
No. Not Playgirl, that’s Playboy.
After winning his semifinal match to move into the International Tennis Championships final on Saturday afternoon, Gambill revealed that he joined five other players to do a five-page fashion spread in the men’s magazine. Among the other players joining Gambill were Belgian Xavier Malisse and American newcomer Robert Kendrick.
In case you’re wondering – there was no nudity involved.
Is Kendrick newest tennis matinee idol?
Courtesy of Jeff Davies/Propix |
By the way, Kendrick ended his dream week in Delray in a 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (7-5) semifinal loss to Gambill in a match he nearly won. Only nerves and a bit of experience kept Kendrick from making this the most unbelievable event for himself. Kendrick had never won a tournament match before arriving here to play the qualifying tournament last weekend.
Keep an eye on the 23-year-old Kendrick because he has the goods to be good.
He possesses a very versatile game and a great variety of shots. While there’s no secret that his backhand is his biggest weakness, his serve is powerful and he can mix it up to keep an opponent off-balance. His forehand is wicked as it arrives on the opposite side of the net undercut low and fast. And he understands the element of surprise, executing two unexpected forehand spin drop shots in the third set tiebreaker. Only a bit of nerves and inexperience saw Kendrick surrender when up a mini-break at 5-4 in the final set tiebreaker – he double faulted going for too much. Gambill went onto to seize the moment on the next two points – a backhand crosscourt winner and an ace – but Kendrick established himself as a potential player to watch.
Kendrick hails from Fresno, Calif. But he has strong roots here in the South Florida area. Both Kendrick’s parents – Doris and Bob – grew up in Miami Shores, went to University of Miami and maintained a vacation home over in Sanibel Island on the west coast of Florida.
Despite being a Pepperdine University Wave himself, Kendrick admits to being a big University of Miami Hurricane’s fanatic as well as Dolphin fan. In fact, he admits that he had problems heading to the Auckland tournament in January – the tournament where he first qualified for an ATP tour level event to lose to Jiri Novak in the first round – because he wanted to stay behind to see Miami play Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl.
"I wanted to watch the game – I mean I didn’t want to go to Auckland," Kendrick said. "I was on the phone with my mom while the game was going on and she told me that Miami won so … I thought they won. Then she told me they called interference and then they lost."
Kendrick currently trains up in the Orlando area and says it’s conceivable that his family might relocate back in Florida from Fresno depending on where he headquarters. He’s the youngest of four and says his sister and two brothers could make an eventual move, too.
Initially, a little shy when it was mentioned, Kendrick eventually admitted that he became a something of a sought after matinee idol with 15-year-old girls around the tournament.
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