South Florida Sun Sentinel from Fort Lauderdale, Florida • Page 36

SUN-SENTINEL, SOUTH FLORIDA TENNIS Sunday, December 12, 1999 17C A breakthrough A good cry A goodbye lUasff v.V. 1 If LAST HURRAH: Steffi Grafs French Open title was the highlight of the year. She retired a month later after losing in the final at AFP photoAnja Niedringhaus MOT fciiMfilMliW SECRET'S OUT: Meet Alexandra Stevenson, Wimbledon semifinalist (and Julius Erving's daughter), ap photo LEAN ON mother's) ME: Martina Hingis needed a shoulder to cry on (her after a French Open final loss. AFP photoJacques Demarthon CHANGEOVER SHOWS ATP MILES been made possible by signing ISL, a Swiss marketing company, to a $1.2 billion deal over 10 years. ISL now can market tennis the way Formula 1, the NBA and NFL market auto racing, basketball and football.

"With those three sports you have the ideal clarity," Miles said. "You know what to expect and when to expect it. That's what we're shooting for." Miles hasn't achieved everything he sought. He had hoped that by the millennium men's and women's tennis would have closed ranks with more combined events. That hasn't happened, and now that the women have a sponsor it will be harder to find common ground.

Sanax is not going to want its commercial message diluted by the men at the biggest tournaments. Looking back at 1999, tennis continued to boom in Europe and Asia and gathered some steam in the United States, as well. The Williams sisters, who played the final at Lipton in Key Biscayne in March, pushed the women's game to a new publicity level, though Venus (4,378 points) still is significantly behind No. 2 Lindsay Davenport (4,841) and No. 1 Martina Hingis But the Williams sisters were not the only notable women's stories of the year.

Hingis broke down in tears after being shocked by Steffi Graf in the final of the French Open and two weeks later was hammered out of Wimbledon in the first round by 16-year-old Aussie Jelena Dokic, losing the third set at love. In a story that created a national sensation, Alexandra Stevenson, 18, who would make the semifinals at Wimbledon, acknowledged she is the daughter of basketball great Julius Erving. Erving, Stevenson and her mother, Samantha Stevenson, had kept the story secret nearly 19 years. Stevenson finished the year at No. 46.

Two fresh faces broke through the women's top 1 0 No. 8 Barbara Schett of Austria and No. 10 Amelie Mauresmo of France. And Jennifer Capriati, with a new commitment to the game and a new coach in Harold Solomon of Fort Lauderdale, rose to No. 23.

Two of the game's greats retired. First, Graf, after losing the Wimbledon final to Davenport. Then, Jana Novotna, who at 29 won her first and only Grand Slam the 1998 Wimbledon. In men's tennis, Agassi broke Sampras' record streak of having PONTE VEDRA BEACH Jet lag? "I've never had it, and I never will," Mark Miles said. "Before one of these flights to Europe or Asia, I don't eat or drink for hours before I leave.

I just get on the plane, take a pill and I'm asleep. Honestly, I get more sleep on the plane than I do at home." It was two days after Pete Sampras' stirring win over Andre Agassi in the ATP Championships final in Hannover, Germany, the last match of a 10-month tennis season that often seems interminable, and Miles, CEO of the ATP Tour, was already back at work here though not for long. "I've got a flight to Texas tomorrow," he said, suddenly smiling. "I'm going quail hunting." A week later he was back to announce the ATP's brave new incursion into the year 2000 and beyond. It will include: A name change for the Super 9s to the Masters Series, with more coordinated publicity for these top tournaments, which take place at Indian Wells, Key Biscayne, Monte Carlo, Rome, Hamburg, TorontoMontreal, Cincinnati, Stuttgart and Paris.

A name change for the ATP Championships, the eight-man tournament that ends the season. It is now called the Masters Cup. A new ranking system that cuts out the mystery of defending points and bonus points. A more relaxed punitive policy that takes a more tolerant view of players' temper tantrums but still cracks down on the worst behavior. An increase in prize money from about $60 million this year to $65 million in 2000, and that doesn't include the estimated $60 million to be meted out by the Grand Slams, which are governed by the ITF.

Seldom in his nine years of speeding all over the planet has Miles been as on top of the world. It has been a spectacular year for men's tennis, and yet he is more interested in looking forward. He keeps talking about 2000 as a fresh start and a new beginning. "This is our chance to put the tennis circuit to the fans properly," Miles said. If it's a return to the exuberance of youth you're searching for, look no further than the Jaguar XK8.

The 290 hp AJ-V8 engine will get your heart pumping. The distinctive styling provides undeniable allure. And the sticker price leaves you with something you probably didn't have when you were younger a little money left over to enjoy yourself. AHEAD finished the year at No. 1 six straight years and became only the fifth man to win all four Slams and the first to win the four Slams on three different surfaces (hardcourt, grass and clay).

His work is not done. Despite finishing ahead of No. 2 Yevgeny Kafelnikov and No. 3 Sampras, Agassi went 1-4 against Sampras in 1999, and three of the losses were in finals. Vince Spadea of Boca Raton, the best player from South Florida, finished at No.

20, a personal best, and his $605,609 in prize money pushed his career earnings to $1,922,123. Two young German rivals had brilliant seasons. Nicolas Kiefer rose to No. 6, and Tommy Haas, who trains in Bradenton, is No. 1 1.

Nicolas Lapentti, the runner-up at the Australian Open, became the latest clay-courter to master the hardcourts. Lapentti, of Ecuador, finished at No. 8. Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil is No. 5.

The 2000 men's schedule kicks off at Adelaide on Jan. 3. The women begin at Auckland on Jan. 3. Charles Bricfeer can be reached at JAGUAR He recalled the words of Ion Tiriac, the great Romanian player and coach.

"He used to say the circuit was goulash," Miles said. "And he was right. People can't see that their sport is organized. After the Slams and Davis Cup, we go off the radar screen. We need to put this tour to people so they can get it.

It's CHARLES BRICKER On Tennis not going to happen in a year or two, but I think we'll get there." Reorganization of the Masters Series, with coordinated sponsors and a logo that makes these nine top tournaments look more like a family, is a shrewd idea. And the new ranking system will be a godsend to fans. The timing couldn't be better. Interest in tennis globally is high after a spectacular year not only for the men's game, but for women's tennis and especially U.S. tennis.

Sampras won Wimbledon for his record-tying 12th Slam title. Agassi completed his two-year drive from No. 141 to No. 1 in the world and won the French Open, U.S. Open and was runner-up at Wimbledon.

Todd Martin fought back from a serious elbow injury to give the United States three players in the top seven. Serena Williams, half of the sister team from Palm Beach Gardens, beat Venus to a first Grand Slam title by capturing the U.S. Open and finished at No. 4, just behind her older sister. They seem poised for 2000 to fulfill their father's prophecy that they will be No.

1 and No. 2 in the world. And after two years of trying to reel in a tour sponsor, the WTA landed Sanax, a European-based company that makes women's body care products, for about $8 million a year. The changes in men's tennis are the end result of plans Miles laid out three years ago. Most of it has can be counted, and players, if they qualify, must play all four Grand Slams and all nine of the Masters Series events.

Any qualified player who doesn't enterone of these 13 biggest tournaments gets a zero. The additional five tournaments can come from the second-level Championship Series or the third-level World Series. In a Masters Series event, the winner gets 100 points, the runner-up 70 and so on down to one point for a first-round loser. In Championship Series, the winner gets 50 points, the runner-up 35. In $1 million World Series events, 50 points to the winner, 35 to the runner-up.

In $400,000 World Series events (Delray Beach is one), 35 points to the winner, 24 to the runner-up. The rankings could look strange when the season begins. Andre Agassi, who finished 1999 at No. 1, could be well down the list if he doesn't play the first two weeks leading up to the Australian Open. If the new system had been in place this year, for example, Rainer Schuttler, who beat Tim Henman in the final at Qatar, would have been No.

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tlr ,1" jf In new race for No. 1, everyone starts at zero By CHARLES BRICKER Staff writer Few things, including ringing cell phones, have been as infuriating to tennis fans as the ATP Tour ranking system. Rejoice. With the year 2000 comes a new ranking system that is so simple all you have to do is add to keep up with your favorite players. The old system was based on a rolling 52-week period in which Dlavers' rankings were based on their best 14 results.

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All that is finished. The new rankings begin with the first tournament of the season (Jan. 3 at Adelaide, Australia) and end with the Masters Cup in November. In January 2001, everyone starts at zero. There are no bonus points.

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