SPORTSLINE (10/03/99)

SPORTSLINE

by Andrij Kudla Wynnyckyj

TENNIS

At the outset of the U.S. Open, when No. 1 seed Pete Sampras announced he would be pulling out of the tournament because of back problems, Montreal-native Ukrainian Brit Greg Rusedski was the only top-level player (seeded ninth) honest enough to admit, in an interview with a USA network journalist, that the absence of the home-country favorite was a golden opportunity for other contenders.

In the first-round match he rebounded after a first-set loss to best Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4; then had an easier time against Germany's David Prinosil, 6-4, 6-3, 6-1; then found himself in tight before prevailing 7-5, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 over local doubles ace Chris Woodruff.

On September 7, in the quarterfinals, it seemed that Mr. Rusedski's path to the trophy would be eased by the woes of yet another U.S.-based player, Todd Martin. Mr. Martin had survived a series of hard-fought matches and then was struck by a stomach virus so severe he needed three intravenous feedings to regain some of his sapped strength.

Mr. Rusedski won the first set 7-5, and then his opponent seemed to bottom out. Mr. Martin struggled to keep the ball in court, losing nine games in a row, with Mr. Rusedski cruising through the second set 6-0, and to a 3-0 lead in what should have been the deciding third set. But the already graying 29-year-old veteran refused to give, closed the gap to 3-5 on serve, and then broke the former Canadian to reach 4-5, then held his serve to force a tie-break.

Mr. Rusedski seemed to wilt under the pressure and lost the tie-breaker 7-3. Mr. Martin then slowed the pace of the match to a crawl, taking frequent breaks to take smelling salts from his trainer, which served to aggravate the Ukrainian's frustration and rob him of composure. Mr. Rusedski complained to the chair umpire to no avail, and lost the fourth set 6-4.

In the fifth he appeared to regain control and racked up a 4-1 lead, and once again seemed poised for victory. But the raucously pro-Martin cheers in Arthur Ashe Stadium spurred yet another revival from the U.S. player. Unnerved, Mr. Rusedski began rushing his shots, incredibly losing 20 of the last 21 points of the match.

Final score: 5-7, 0-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4, 6-4 for Mr. Martin, eventually a loser in the final to countryman Andre Agassi, the same man who was pushed to five sets before winning the French Open by Ukraine's Andrei Medvedev earlier this year.

Mr. Medvedev fared reasonably well at Flushing Meadows, winning in the first round against Argentina's Martin Rodriguez 6-3, 6-2, 6-3; then quickly dispatching Canada's Sebastien Lareau 6-4, 6-1, 6-0 (possibly aiding the latter's march to the tournament's doubles championship), but was then caught in a grueling five-set contest against the unheralded Lleyton Hewitt of Australia, eventually prevailing 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

This brought a fourth-round confrontation against the tournament's temperamental third seed, Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov. The first set was a see-saw battle that seemed to drain all of the energy and concentration from the Kyiv-born Medvedev. He lost 6-7 (5-7), 1-6, 0-6; committing 49 unforced errors and 12 double faults along the way.

Women's draw

Lviv's Latvian Larisa Neiland has yet another powerful partner on the doubles circuit, this time it's Spain's Arantxa Sanchez Vicario

At the U.S. Open they made it all the way to the semifinal. They cruised past the Czech pair of Eva Martincova and Helena Vildova 6-1, 6-2; needed a third set tie-break of a very tough battle to oust Laurence Courtois of Belgium and Alicia Molik of Austria 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5); got back on holiday mode against Italy's Silvia Farina and Slovak Karina Habsudova, 6-4, 6-3; lazily dropped a set to 16th seeds Liezel Horn of South Africa and Kimberly Po of the U.S., 6-1, 1-6, 6-4.

In the semis they were upset by unseeded tandem of Chanda Rubin of the U.S., and Sandrine Testud of France in a close match 7-6 (7-4), 7-5. The difference proved to be a weak game off their second serves (only 39 percent of points won to their opponents' 71 percent) and eight double faults.

Ms. Nieland did well in mixed doubles play, hooked up with Rick Leach of the U.S., reaching the quarterfinals, only to be ousted by Ms. Po (an opponent in women's doubles) and fellow Yank Donald Johnson 6-2, 6-4. Their run began in exciting fashion in the first round, where they prevailed in double tie-break nailbiter 7-6 (10-8), 7-6 (9-7) over U.S. players Debbie Graham and Sandon Stolle. They beat Irina Spirlea of Romania and Daniel Orsanic 6-4, 6-3 in the second round before advancing to the "playoff" stage.

Olena Tatarkova, unlike her erstwhile compatriot, still takes stabs at the singles game, but not with much reward at Grand Slams. At the U.S. Open she lost to Amelie Cocheteux of France in the first round, 6-3, 6-3. In women's doubles, she makes enough money to stay on tour, and together with South Africa's Mariaan De Swardt they make a formidable team (they were seeded eighth for this year's U.S. Open). Unfortunately, they fell prey to a team featuring this year's singles French sensation Amélie Mauresmo, who teamed up with countrywoman Julie Halard and came away the victor, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4.

Ms. Tatarkova was more successful in mixed doubles (paired with Russia's Andrei Olhovskiy), where she also made it into the quarterfinals only to be bounced by the kangaroo court ruthlessness of third-seeded Aussies Rennae Stubbs and Todd Woodbridge, 6-3, 6-1.

Along the way, the Ukrainian-Russian team celebrated two victories, first over Slovakia's Katarina Srebotnik and South Africa's Piet Norval, 6-4, 6-3, and then over Kerry-Anne Guse of Austria and Jack Waite of the U.S., 6-4, 6-2.

FOOTBALL

Ukrainian fans of this gladiatorial entertainment have little to cheer about, as the vehicle for their happiness in this area has lost its wheels.

Wayne Chrebet, the outstanding receiver for the New York Jets, suffered a broken foot on September 5 in the first quarter of the last pre-season game (a 38-17 victory over the Minnesota Vikings) and isn't expected back until six weeks into the season. His best showing in the pre-season was a three-catch night on August 20, in which he caught a 12-yard toss for a touchdown to secure a 10-3 win over the Philadelphia Eagles.

What's worse, the quarterback who showed signs of being able to lead the Jets to the Super Bowl, Vinny Testaverde, suffered a season-ending rupture of his Achilles tendon in the team's opening-day loss to the New England Patriots.

As a consolation, there is a new website devoted to Number 80, which can be found at http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~ginaml/wayne.html. There we learn that the player is writing a book and that a breakfast cereal, "Chrebet Crunch," is due to hit the shelves in the New York-New Jersey area.

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