Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • Page 18

FINAL 'VP turday, June 30, 1990 The Arizona Republic ESK5 Purists shouldn't be howling over grunting in tennis 1 EDWIN tlh POPE West Germany's Steffi Graf will 1 play American Jennifer Capriati in the fourth i round of Wimbledon. Both players advanced with Victories Friday. Graf beat Claudia Kohde-Kilsch and Capriati downed Robin White. if "-iilife. V' 4,, turns back upset bid WIMBLEDON, England Of all things, it took grunting to move the World Cup out of London newspapers' top headlines.

Tennis grunting, yet. Purists complain that the grunting of Monica Seles, Gabriela Sabatini, Jennifer Capriati and other young female stars comes across too piggishly. Seles especially is taking flak as Queen of The Double Grunt. "I pity her neighbors on her wedding night," Sir Peter Ustinov was quoted as saying. It was a tasteless line from a knighted actor, but once a ham always a ham.

It also reflected the idiotic turmoil that grunting on the grass is causing. "I'd relax the all-white clothing rule if we could just get rid of the grunting," said John Curry, the All England chairman. If less crude than Ustinov's outburst, Curry's observation was equally astounding. What does clothing color have to do with a reflexive expulsion of breath? Players defended I'm on the grunters' side. It's enough that tennis spectators are admonished for so much as breathing hard while players are serving, without players being told to hold their breath every shot.

What's next, telling an NFL lineman he can't grunt when the ball is snapped? Besides, in a world polluted by as much noise as dirt, what's another "Ugh!" or Or, in Seles' case, both? Seles isn't the first grunter. However, her double-grunt is unique. She explodes a huge "ugh!" even before the ball reaches her. As amplified in Friday's 6-3, 6-3, third-round thrashing of Anne Minter Monica's 35th straight victory Seles follows this up with a cross between a scream and a grunt. Thus, "Ugh! Aieeel" Jimmy Connors was the first truly expert grunter.

In fact, so many youngsters emulated him in the 1970s that Florida's tennis authorities actually put in a no-grunt rule. Naturally, it was ignored. "I've tried not to do it, but I can't help it," Seles said. "When I give everything to a point, I have to exhale." The Miami Herald Different styles True, there's a difference between the single bass grunt, Connors' pre-TV-commentator style, and Seles' double soprano. Some opponents claim it is distracting.

"But I didn't even realize Jennifer Capriati was grunting in our match in the French Open until someone told me," Seles said. Distractees should try shooting free throws in the NBA with whole sections shouting and waving arms behind the backboard. Tennis grunts are altogether involuntary. As usual, commercialism raises its ugly head. International Management Group is said to be encouraging Seles to go gruntless.

The huge agency specializes in lining up endorsements for celebrities, and fears Seles' "Ugh! Aicee!" might scare off sponsors. Granted her battle-cry might not sell much perfume, but Seles is going to make $50 million off tennis-playing alone. Is it worth risking ruining her natural virtuosity to grub out a few extra millions? Sabatini's and Capriati's arc somewhat muted by comparison. Capriati's grunt is briefer, a one-syllable "Oof!" Like her shots, arguably the hardest in the women's gamei it packs a wallop. It may have bothered non-gruntcr Robin White as Capriati oofed her out, 7-5, 6-7 (1-7)1 6-3, in the third round Friday.

Like Seles, Capriati grunts unconsciously. "Oh, is it loud?" she asked when the tempest in a trough came up in a news conference. "Sort of," she was told. "I didn't know that," Capriati said. "But it doesn't bother me when others grunt.

All I think about is getting the ball back." Somehow I thought that was the whole idea. As for you, Sir Peter Ustinov: Ugh! Aicee! Big Screen Pierre GteizesThe Associated Press wore on and White wilted. "Then in the last game," Capriati said, "when I had the match points and I missed those forehands, I said, 'You're not going to do this again. You're going to win this And I did." Capriati's celebrated European tour began at the Italian Open, where she reached the quarterfinals, and continued at the French Open, where she made the semifinals. She didn't lose to any pushovers: No.

4 Gabriela Saba-tini beat her at Rome and No. 3 Monica Seles beat her at Paris on the way to the title. In Graf, Capriati will be facing the dominant player of the past three years who is psyched to let the youngsters know she's still boss. Graf lost to Seles, 16, in the German and French Open finals and could meet her again in the semis if she gets by Capriati. Seles advanced Friday by beating Anne Minter, 6-3, 6-3.

Against Kohde-Kilsch, Graf needed only 22 minutes to win the first set four minutes more than Capriati's 13-deuce game with White. Graf said she expects a good match against Capriati. "I saw her play today and she was playing well from the baseline, so there should be some good rallies," she said. Capriati Graf is next opponent for U.S. teen By Steve Wilsteln The Associated Press WIMBLEDON, England Poised, precocious and oh, so precious, Jennifer Capriati impressed Wimbledon fans with that most prized British trait the stiff upper lip in times of distress.

Capriati, 14, will need all the resolve she can muster against her fourth-round foe, two-time defending champion Steffi Graf, who knows what it's like to be a prodigy on Centre Court. Graf, determined to halt the teen uprising against her, won more easily than Capriati on Friday, setting up a showdown, the first meeting between Graf and Capriati at Wimbledon. Graf cased past fellow West German Claudia Kohdc-Kilsch, 6-0, 6-4, while Capriati reeled off six straight games and fought through four match points on her opponent's serve in outlasting Robin White, 7-5, 6-7 (1-7), 6-3. At 21, Graf, winner of nine Grand Slam titles and who made the fourth round at- Wimbledon at age 15, SALE List Price '599 plus tree mulch collection system with mower $55 value No bagging, no raking you save time and work! Turns grass clippings Into Ideal lawn food with no thatch buildup Self-propelled Front Wheel Drive for easier 1 -point height control adjusts all four wheels at once for 1-3" cutting height. Durable All-Steel construction.

Solid state Magnetron9 electronic Ignition. SALES SERVICE PARTS FINANCING tASV PAYMENT PLAN 1 30 W. buried in early rounds. Later in the day, men's 10th seed Jonas Svensson lost on the same court, blowing a two-set lead, 2-6, 6-7 (8-10), 6-1, 6-0, 6-4, to dark horse David Wheaton. Wheaton's fourth-round opponent will be fellow American Brad Gilbert, the seventh seed, who beat Paul Haarhuis, 6-1, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.

Also advancing were three-time defending champ Boris Becker, who beat Dan Goldie, 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5, and 1987 champion Pat Cash, who beat Juan Aguilcra, 6-1, 6-1, 6-4. Another American hopeful remaining among the women is No. 5 Zina Garrison, who beat Andrea Leand, 6-0, 6-3. Garrison won five games at love and allowed Leand only 17 points on her own serve. Perhaps even more telling of Capriati's character than her play under pressure was her response to a question about the comeback.

"I shouldn't have been down, 0-3," she said. "I should've been in the locker room by then. I had two match points (in the second set). Lately, I haven't been closing those out, and I should have. When I got down, 0-3, 1 just said, 'Come on, keep fighting.

Just try your best. That's exactly what she did, playing better and better as the set a A ivivaA Remote Control Cable Ready On Screen Display fmSDlEDBD1 'Wffifl III Cable Ready On already is talking about ending her career in a few years. For Capriati, as natural on grass as a young filly, her first Wimbledon offers the promise of many more to come. Capriati has charmed fans with her smile and her innocence "I miss my puppy," she said when asked if she's homesick but she displayed the grit the British admire as she rallied from a pounding by White in a second-set tiebreaker and an 0-3 deficit in the final set. The last game White won, an enormously tense duel that went to deuce 13 times before White held, exhausted her while giving Capriati a surge of determination.

"It took everything I had left, without a doubt," said White, 26, who saved two match points in the second set. "Even though mentally you don't think it does, because it fires you up to be up, 3-0, in the third set, physically it definitely did." Capriati wiped the sweat from her brow, clenched her jaw and stepped up to serve with an intense look in her eyes. Rushing the net, taking control, she beat White with volleys and sizzling passing shots. It was a gutsy performance on Court 2, dubbed the "graveyard of champions," where the hopes of such luminaries as Jimmy Connors, Ilic Nastase and John McEnroe once were SALE PRICES Start at 95 FULLY ASSEMBLED Xmil 'July 4li Available Options Electric or 2 A 3HP Brlggs gat englntt 17" to 7 blad reals Unique tell propelled drive tyttemt New commercial terlet Front mounted gratt catcher! Included Heavy duty tteel construction 2 year engine warranty Precision height adjustment SAT. FREE I FUTURE flUr SHARPENINQ I it with purchMt 'L If It 3i SAVINGS I STEREO :45" I Diamond Vition II low grain high diffuiion tcrccn on crecn menu displays i AMitsubishi 6 0 0 2 60" On 181 chanel cable compatible STEREO MONITOR RECEIVER ilemole conirol Kieen menu display Diamond Vision Prices too "Uncompromising Quality" On Sale Now AMITSUBISHI JL MITCI IRIQhi I MGA STEREO MONITOR RECEIVER Diamond Vision II 'low grain high dillVnion screen on screen menu displays 181 chanel cable mmnalihte Remote Control Screen Display El E3 MONITOR RECEIVER Remote Jonlrol Cable Ready AV IO Jacks CS-2656 CS-1 347 SPECIAL PRICES ON MITSUBISHI ALL DAY Hampton MESA (Nmt Country CHA Suptratltlon Frwy) 4 5 0 1 low tntU VS-4001 Model JllP2tCK Scir-clcaning rrvrn.

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