Tennis Editorial, May 15 2000.
Including prognostications of the French Open, Roland Garros 2000
(-Old news:)
While the routine of exchanging the top place in the WTA rankings (between Martina Hingis and Lindsay Davenport) was getting dull, the men's side has flabbergasted me: Magnus Norman has reached #1 !
...The question is, how did that happen? Is he a real new master of the game, or is it just the change (as of January 2000) in statistical methods used to determine ranks? One thing's sure... this was a surprise. And a welcome one.
Norman and Yevgeny Kafelnikov have started a new tradition it seems: disowning the #1 spot, attributing its proper proprietorship to the traditional great champions, Sampras and Agassi. My feeling is that while this is proper and gentlemanly, on the other hand if the ranked #1(s) beat Sampras/Agassi consistently, it is also a mannerism to leave behind in that event...
The French Open - upcoming in late May 2000 - has somehow become my favorite tournament. Maybe because, on both the men's side and the women's/ladies', it tends to results that defy all prognostication. A brief review seems to show this:
1997: Gustavo Kuerten and Iva Majoli were the champions;
1998: Sanchez-Vicario and Carlos Moya (if I recollect correctly)
1999: Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi were both unexpected victors.
2000 ? : - subject to, well, seeing what happens. But I think it's safe enough to say ... or hazard ... two attempts to see into the obscure, red, clay-smeared, future:
A) Agassi has been going strong for a long while... so, being the expectable champion, he will probably NOT win here.
and B) the champion of the women's side will most likely NOT be WTA-top-ranked, once again.
...Seeing Hingis play there again will likely be like seeing the lion thrown to the Christians for a change, if all goes as before. (But it may not... see remarks above.)
[-R.H., May 15th.]
- The above is the unaltered text (with a minor HTML alteration) of my May 15th's Tennis Editorial, as written and published on the 'UpSky2' index page. To verify the prognostications expressed, see May 15th's original index file.
- Page created June 19 2000 by Russell Hess (hess1@bigfoot.com), Webmaster of 'UpSky2' & 'UpSky'.
