Monday, Apr 7, 2008
Lendl's tennis side job is a lot of work
By RUSTY HALL
Pete Sampras is semi-retired, but when it comes to filling an arena, the 14-time Grand Slam champion is still the king of the court.
Sampras packed the Deja Blue Arena in Frisco last fall for an exhibition match with Robby Ginepri, and he did it again March 10 in grand fashion when he and current tennis superstar Roger Federer put on a highly entertaining exhibition match for 19,000 fans in the Netjets Showdown at venerable Madison Square Garden in Manhattan.
Outside of the U.S. Open and the occasional Davis Cup final, it appears that Sampras is just about the only person capable of stirring the interest of the average American tennis fan. Pitting him against Federer, the current world No. 1, for a matchup featuring the best of the past and the present didn't hurt either.
For Ivan Lendl, who co-produced the Netjets Showdown, the matchup offered an opportunity to bring tennis back to an arena that was once second only to Flushing Meadows, but which had not hosted a tennis match since 2000.
"Pete mentioned [playing an exhibition at Madison Square Garden] to a common friend, and then Pete and I talked," Lendl said. "I called a friend of mine [Jerry Solomon], who used to be my manager, and we decided to put it together."
"We found an open date, and Roger was coming in on his way to Indian Wells, and it worked out quite well," said Lendl, who was in Fort Worth shortly after the event to watch three of his five daughters compete in the Kathy Whitworth Invitational junior golf tournament at Mira Vista Country Club.
Despite the success of the event, which Federer won in three hard-fought sets, Lendl said he's not ready to become the Don King of the tennis world.
"You just can't put something together like that very often," said Lendl, seven-time finalist and four-time champion of the Masters Cup event that was held at MSG. "Who else could draw a crowd like that but Pete and Roger? Pete doesn't want to play too many matches, and I think Roger is looking to concentrate more on [his ATP matches] with the way things have been going."
This season, Federer has struggled , including Thursday night's quarterfinal loss to Andy Roddick at the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Fla.
He has not won a title this season, allowing No. 2-ranked Rafael Nadal to close the once-expansive gap in ranking points. But Lendl doesn't think the Spaniard is Federer's biggest concern.
"I don't think Nadal's the one Roger needs to worry about," said Lendl, an eight-time Grand Slam champion. "[No. 3-ranked and defending Australian Open champion] Novak Djokovic is the one to watch. But we wouldn't even be talking about this if Roger had won the Australian Open."
Lendl said Federer appeared to be over the mononucleosis that had hampered his play at the Australian Open.
"He looked fine, but I wasn't going to kiss him," Lendl joked.
While in Fort Worth, Lendl watched two of his daughters, Daniela and Marika, move into position to win the Whitworth Invitational; they were tied for third after the first round. However, the second round was rained out and they didn't get a chance move up. Lendl was joined in Fort Worth by former Czech player and Australian Open champion Petr Korda, whose daughter Jessica finished tied for third with Lendl's daughters.
Good cause
Ivan Lendl held a tennis clinic for the third consecutive year at Mira Vista Country Club with proceeds from the $1,000 per person entry fee benefitting the Boys and Girls Club, which sponsors the Kathy Whitworth Invitational. Among those attending the clinic were Arlington Heights High School students Tintu and Tipsy Phillips, sponsored by Will and Kay Stansbery.
Will Stansbery is the former athletic director and coach at Fort Worth Country Day School. A participant in the Boys Club in Kansas City, he was a Big Eight tennis champion at Oklahoma State in the early 1960s. Stansbery had a liver transplant 10 months ago and reportedly is doing well.
Briefly
Two Fort Worth Super Senior Teams will be competing at national championships later this month in Mobile, Ala. The 7.0 and 8.0 teams captained by Frank Kologey and Mike McBurney, respectively, won the sectional championships last fall to qualify for the national event.
TCU men's tennis coach Dave Borelli picked up his 400th career coaching victory last week in the No. 31-ranked Frogs' 5-2 victory over UNLV.