May 25, 1997
French Open Preview
The French Championships begin with no clear favorites
PARIS -- This year, the French Open will begin on Memorial Day with no clear favorite. Defending champion, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, has had a slow and painful comeback from a broken right hand which has limited his tournament play since January. Thomas Muster, the King of Clay, has struggled for the first time in three years on his favorite surface. Muster is only 6-6 this year on the red stuff.
As for the American hopefuls, Pete Sampras doesn't seem to have the right game to win seven matches on the relatively fast clay of Roland Garros. This year, he lost four straight matches for the first time since 1989. He is riding this losing streak into the only grand slam tournament which has eluded him. Sampras will also have to overcome a left thigh strain suffered last Monday in Dusseldorf, Germany at the ATP World Team Cup in the third set of his match against Mark Philippoussis. He did not compete for the remainder of the week.
Andre Agassi is having a nightmarish year so far. He has a 6-6 overall record in 1997 and has not advanced past the second round of a tournament since February in San Jose where he lost in the semifinals to Greg Rusedski. Agassi will not compete in this year's French Open due to a wrist injury.
Jim Courier has played well this year in Europe on the clay. He may advance as far as the semifinals if the draw holds its form. Courier has made a strong showing on the ATP Tour this year by playing consistently good tennis and by winning a tournament before the Australian Open.
Michael Chang has had an excellent year so far - on the hard courts. He did win the U.S. Clay Court Championships this year, thanks in part to the Super Nine Event in Monte Carlo which attracted the sport's premier players. When Chang made it to Rome for the Italian Open, he was upset in the first round. He hasn't competed exceptionally well on the red clay this year. Last week, Chang joined Sampras at the ATP Word Team Cup in Dusseldorf which is played on red clay slower than that at the French Open. Chang struggled against numerous accomplished clay court players from Europe.
Two players from Europe may have the best chances of winning their first Grand Slam at this year's French Open. Marcelo Rios from Chile won his first Super Nine title in Monte Carlo by defeating Alex Corretja of Spain in straight sets. Rios has played very good clay court tennis this year. Three weeks later in Rome, Alex Corretja turned the tables on Rios by winning his first Super Nine title at the Italian Open. Both players are playing extremely good tennis and should be playing through the second week in Paris.
Among the other top players not competing in the '97 French Open is Boris Becker. He has the most titles (49) among active players, none of which have come on clay. Becker withdrew with an undisclosed injury which will continue his disappointing season in which he has only won six of eleven matches. He has been bothered by a wrist injury suffered last year at Wimbledon.
The French Open will be covered in the United States by the USA Network. USA will televise three hours of live coverage daily along with three taped hours of late night coverage daily. NBC will cover the weekend matches with both taped and live coverage. The men's and women's finals will be covered by NBC May 7 and 8, respectively.
|
ESPNET SportsZone: Tennis
From ESPN and StarWave Productions, this web page features news, results, multimedia, rankings, prize money, week-by-week calendars, and special features on the ATP and WTA. Past results and day-by-day recaps of the year's Grand Slam events are always available.
ATP Tour Online
This is the web site of the IBM ATP Tour. It contains pictures of the star players as well as their current rankings and stats. The Mercedes Super Nine and the ATP Ranking computer are all explained in this informative and well organized web site.
The Official WTA Tour Web Site
This well presented web site features the stats, players, schedule, rankings, news, ticket info, and media guide of the WTA Tour. The player bios and photographs are excellent and the WTA News section is one of the best available.
Tennis Magazine Online
This cool site is the online equivalent of Tennis Magazine. Featured are the monthly printed articles as well as some Internet exclusives. Join fan clubs of your favorite players, write to their agents, and browse bulletin boards related to the best sport in the world.
The Unofficial Andre Agassi Site
The Andre Agassi site is the best player dedicated site on the 'net. It features up-to-the-minute news, stats, results, and his ATP Tour history. It also features a great multimedia library containing numerous graphics, sound bites, and QuickTime movies of Agassi! A must-see for Agassi fans. Check it out!
|
Tennis
