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 Seles' fairy tale run ends
Posted: Wednesday July 01, 1998 04:57 PM
WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- Monica Seles recognizes a fairy tale when she hears one. A favorite one -- with her in the lead role -- goes like this: Following the death of her father just over a month ago and her well-publicized stabbing in April 1993, she comes back to win Wimbledon and regains her No. 1 ranking. But Seles knows fairytales don't come true, as her 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 defeat to Natasha Zvereva in Wednesday's quarterfinals will attest. "I think it's totally separate," she said. "I don't think God is going to favor a tennis match or a tennis player to win it. I just don't agree with that outlook. Life really doesn't work like that, does it. "Some people should get a lot. They for sure suffered so much more than I ever did in my life. And they still don't get it. Unfortunately, it's not like that." WHAT TENNIS: It was tough to find tennis coverage Wednesday in the British press. The papers were saturated with news of England's penalty-shootout loss to Argentina Tuesday in the World Cup as soccer pages out-numbered tennis 6 to 1. "The End of Our World," said a Daily Mail headline, summing it up. Unlike England, Croatia is still alive in the World Cup, having reached the final eight. Goran Ivanisevic -- in the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time since '95 -- described what might happen if his young country won the World Cup. "The whole country will be runk for the rest of the year," he said. "Including me and the rest of the team." BYE, BYE LINDSAY: Second-seeded Lindsay Davenport -- one of the hardest hitters in women's tennis -- was beaten at her game own game in Wednesday's quarterfinal loss to Nathalie Tauziat. "That's by far the best she [Tauziat] has ever played against me," said the American, who had won seven of eight previous head-to-heads. "I expected her to come in all the time and to volley great, but she was really out-hitting me from the baseline. "This is by far the best I've ever played at Wimbledon," she added. "I didn't think I could play this well on grass." Tauziat, reaching her first Grand Slam semifinal on what is her best surface, echoed Davenport. "I hit like her,strong like her... I mixed it up and it was good today." JOLLY GOOD, PETE: Pete Sampras, using his best British English, described watching England lose to Argentina on penalties Wednesday in the World Cup. "I don't know football that well," he said, avoiding the use of the word soccer. "Losing on penalties is a tough way to lose." He cracked up the English reporters when he joked about Canadian-born Briton Greg Rusedski, whose North American accent is spiced with expressions like "mate, bloke and brilliant." "I played a couple of years ago against Rusedski -- before he all of a sudden turned English," Sampras said. "Is that good for you guys?" Sampras asked the British press. "I'm trying to help." SERVE AND VOLLEY: Ken Rosewall, four-time Wimbledon runner-up, is playing at Wimbledon at 63. Rosewall is playing in the over-45 doubles with Fred Stolle, 47 years after his first appearance at Wimbledon. He said he still hits the ball well -- "when I reach it." Former U.S. Open runner-up Tom Okker, 54, was taken off the court in a wheelchair after a calf injury in one of his matches. Mark Philippoussis on the changes announced Wednesday in the ATP Tour ranking system: "I think it's the best thing, but I can't really say. To be honest, I don't really care." Despite the passion for betting in Britain, there are nobookmakers allowed on the All England Club grounds during the fortnight. "We have been pushing for it, but the ball's in their court now," said Graham Sharpe of bookies William Hill. Goran Ivanisevic has won eight straight matches over Richard Krajicek dating back to 1992.
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