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Big-Time Tennis Knows The Way To San Jose

By Barry MacKay with Joel Drucker

It's rare for a sport to kick off its year with a Super Bowl-like event, but that's exactly what we have in tennis. The recently-concluded Australian Open has jumpstarted the 2001 tennis season. And as we start zooming in on the upcoming Sybase Open (February 26-March 4), Bay Area residents - and millions more watching around the world on TV - are gearing up for more great tennis.

At the same time, as a tournament director and tennis lover, I'm delighted that the break between the end of a Slam and our event is a bit longer than usual. This not only gives us a chance to have more prominent players; it also means they'll arrive in San Jose both tournament-sharp and refreshed.

On the heels of winning his seventh Grand Slam down in Australia, what more can you say about Sybase Open top seed Andre Agassi? He personifies everything you want in an athlete playing an individual sport - he's his own man, utterly charismatic, talented and successful. Agassi's been a mainstay of this event since he won here in his debut in 1990. He's trying to equal John McEnroe's Open era record of five titles at this event (the all-time record, by the way, is held by San Francisco's Bill Johnston, who won it ten times in the teens and '20s and had a big Western forehand ala Agassi).

I just the love the way Agassi can open up the court with his groundstrokes. Everyone talks about his powerful forehand, but to me the stroke I love most is his backhand, particularly the one he strikes down the line to open up the court. His coach, Brad Gilbert, calls it "the liquidator." Better yet, at 30, Andre seems more eager than ever to play great tennis and leave an increasingly bigger imprint on tennis history. I think he knows that he squandered some of his talent in his youth. As he put it a few months ago, "there just isn't that much time anymore." The urgency around Andre makes him even more exciting.

Andre has always enjoyed the Bay Area. He recently bought a large home in Marin County. Even better news this year is that he'll be primed to play. A year ago, Agassi literally flew around the world on his way to San Jose - from the Australian Open to a rough Davis Cup tie in Africa and then through London on his way to California. He was so exhausted that he was forced to withdraw from the Sybase Open with a back injury.

But he likely won't play a single tournament match between the Australian and San Jose. He'll be strongly challenged by one of the deepest fields in this tournament's history. There's a bit of a generational challenge going on in the men's game, as shown by the ATP in its "New Balls, Please" campaign. With rising players like Lleyton Hewitt, Tommy Haas and Jan-Michael Gambill (each featured in the campaign) coming to San Jose, old versus new figures heavily into the Sybase Open plot line. Hewitt, making his debut here, is eager to take more and more titles. Haas has a very powerful one-handed backhand and can play electrifying, allcourt tennis. Three years ago Gambill reached his first tour quarterfinal right here in San Jose, testing Agassi in two tight sets before beating him the next month in Indian Wells.

Then again, don't overlook the defending champ. Australian Mark Philippoussis is trying to become the first three-peater here since Tony Trabert did it in 1953-'55. I've always thought Philippoussis - armed with both a supersonic serve and very powerful groundstrokes -- had the tools necessary for winning Wimbledon. He's still just 24. Knee surgery took him off the tour for several months. He'll just be coming back the week prior to San Jose in Memphis, so I think he'll be rounding into top form.

There'll also be several extremely well-gifted players in San Jose who are capable not just of pulling off upsets, but of going all the way. Lefties Greg Rusedski, Wayne Arthurs and Goran Ivanisevic all serve as big as anyone in tennis. Rusedski knocked off Agassi on his way to the finals here in '97. Most recently he beat Gustavo Kuerten at the Australian Open. Arthurs beat Kuerten at the U.S. Open. And the mercurial Ivanisevic, playing here for the first time, has wins over virtually everyone in tennis. Also in the mix is big-hitting South African Wayne Ferreira, now a Berkeley resident who enjoyed a mini-renaissance last fall when he won the ATP's Tennis Masters Stuttgart event with an impressive win over Hewitt. When you add in the likes of rising American Andy Roddick and the high-octane Jensens, it's clear there'll be lots of great tennis in San Jose. Keep checking with this website, and we'll keep you up to date on what you can look forward to at the 2001 Sybase Open, which kicks off Monday, February 26 at 10 a.m. at the San Jose Arena. See you there.

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