Who Might Have a ‘Bye at the Open This Year?

This sport isn’t one for grand farewell tours. There is an exception here and there, of course, most notably Chris Evert’s final U.S. Open in 1989, which seemed to reduce everyone on the grounds to tears.

A retirement usually comes at a hastily arranged news conference (Steffi Graf) or is issued with a brief communique. Then, quite often, you have the unretirement, like Boris Becker giving Wimbledon one more try.

Which is why it might be good to pay close attention at the U.S. Open, which starts Monday, to the matches of Pete Sampras, Michael Chang, Todd Martin, Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia, Monica Seles and Spaniards Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and Conchita Martinez.

Rest assured, none of them has announced anything about retirement, and Sampras even made a point of saying last week he would assess his future at the end of 2003. Kafelnikov has veered the closest to saying this might be it, especially if Russia should win the Davis Cup this year.

But who knew that Graf’s loss in the Wimbledon final in 1999 would be her final Slam? It’s always difficult for a player near the end, no matter the sport, to see a true picture. CBS and USA Network commentator John McEnroe was asked about Sampras, who lost in the second round at Wimbledon and has won three matches in his last three events.

“I think he sees it, but he doesn’t want to admit it,” McEnroe said. “This guy has won 13 Grand Slams, seven Wimbledons, got to the final of the Open last year. He’s had fairly recent success.

“It’s hard as an athlete in any sport to just walk away at the right time, or to feel like you know when that time is or not to believe. Especially a guy who’s had the success of a Pete Sampras, unprecedented. Why wouldn’t he believe, at 31 years of age, that he still can win? There’s got to be a lot of conflict going on in his mind. On one hand, he hasn’t won a tournament since he broke the record [at Wimbledon 2000], and on the other hand, he still believes he can play with the best of them when he gets his confidence.”

Having said all that, McEnroe believes Sampras will continue through 2003.

“I would be surprised if he walked away from it. I bet he would at least give it through next year,” McEnroe said.

Said commentator and former No. 1 player Tracy Austin: “When is the right time? We’ve had people [go] out when they’re still at the top. Chris went out still at the top. Steffi went out still at the top. Martina [Navratilova] wasn’t at the top anymore. It’s tough to time it perfectly. You really have to feel fulfilled. I think Pete wouldn’t be there if he didn’t have a shot.”

Early-Round Fever

Best first-round matches (men): Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain vs. Wayne Arthurs of Argentina. Arthurs, often called the man who could not be broken, is a nightmare opponent. The left-hander and his formidable serve took out Andy Roddick on clay in the first round of the French Open. Others worth watching are James Blake vs. wild card Brian Vahaly and Marcelo Rios of Chile vs. Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden.

Best possible second-round match (men): Roddick vs. Taylor Dent. They have never played in a Slam or ATP tournament, but Dent, of Huntington Beach, has won a singles title more recently than Roddick, taking his first career title in July, on grass at Newport, R.I.

Interesting possible second-round match (women): Anna Kournikova vs. Alexandra Stevenson. Of course, they have to get there. Stevenson, who has struggled this summer, will play Stephanie Foretz of France and Kournikova will face Angelique Widjaja of Indonesia. In their last meeting, Kournikova defeated Stevenson easily this summer at Carlsbad, reducing Stevenson to tears.

Nod From Martina

Navratilova is probably a better judge than most to assess the Open, considering she has been playing doubles and observing at Carlsbad, Manhattan Beach and Montreal, among other places.

“I picked Serena [Williams] for the French and Wimbledon and she won those,” she said. “For the Open ... I think Venus [Williams] should be the hungrier one. She seems to be playing well. I would put Venus a slight favorite over Serena.”

As for potential challengers, with the emphasis on potential, Navratilova pointed out Jennifer Capriati has been struggling and Seles has been injured. She thinks Lindsay Davenport could be the one.

“She’s going to keep getting better and better and she’ll be fresh and ready to go,” Navratilova said. “So probably Lindsay would have a better chance of beating either Venus or Serena than anybody, but you still have to pick a Williams to win the whole thing because somebody will likely have to beat both of them and that’s proven pretty difficult in the past.”

Positive Drug Test

It was surprising enough that a female player was suspended for three months and fined $23,347 for using a banned substance. What put it on a different level was that the substance was cocaine.

On Saturday, the WTA announced that 21-year-old Lourdes Dominguez Lino of Spain had tested positive for metabolites of cocaine. The drug test was in March at a clay-court event in Acapulco.

Though Mats Wilander and Karol Novacek tested positive for cocaine in 1996 at the French Open, this is believed to be the first case on the women’s side. Dominguez Lino is ranked No. 158 and the penalties will knock her out of the top 300.