| | NEW YORK -- Former President Jimmy Carter, on
hand for "Super Saturday" at the National Tennis Center, must
have been delighted to witness victories by American players
Todd Martin, Andre Agassi and Serena Williams.
President Carter arrived on the grounds shortly before the start
of the first men's semifinal match. Speaking with CBS Sports
reporter Bonnie Bernstein, President Carter recalled his
favorite U.S. Open memories.
"The best thing I remember about the U.S. Open was that my
mother was in love with Jimmy Connors," he said. "She would go
absolutely wild while she was watching his matches. I resented
Jimmy a little bit with all his histrionics after he won a point
or a game. But she thought it was absolutely fabulous."
Asked if tennis and government were in any way alike, the man
who helped broker peace between Israel and Egypt but could not
find a solution to the hostage crisis in Iran responded
quickly.
"You have to learn to win and lose (in both)," President Carter
said. "And I've done both."
There was speculation that a current White House resident, one
with New York Senate aspirations, also would be on hand Saturday.
But first lady Hillary Clinton was a no-show.
At 25, Kafelnikov feels his age
At 25, Yevgeny Kafelnikov was the youngest of the four men
playing in Saturday's semifinals, but he sees time slipping away.
"Time's running so quickly," Kafelnikov said. "Next year I'm
26. I remember myself when I was a 19-year-old, coming out as a
newcomer. Everything was new for me. I was physically fresh.
I'm definitely getting older. It's so hard to compete now with
the young guys."
Earlier in the tournament, Kafelnikov said this could be his
last shot at winning the U.S. Open.
"I would like to reconsider the statement," Kafelnikov said. "I
definitely will try to do as best I can next year."
Kafelnikov lost Saturday in four sets to 29-year-old Andre Agassi,
who said age is meaningless.
"It all depends how healthy you are," Agassi said. "How you take
care of your body, your motivation and focus. For me, my
motivation and focus is there. I'm in the best shape of my life.
As long as those pieces are there, I'm in plenty position to
win, regardless how young they start or who I am playing."
Playing for No. 1
By beating Yevgeny Kafelnikov 1-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 in the semifinals of the U.S. Open Saturday, Andre Agassi assumed the No. 1 ranking.
Agassi will be No. 1 when the new ATP Tour computer rankings
are compiled on Monday, while Kafelnikov will be ranked No. 2.
Pete Sampras, who was ranked No. 1 when the year's final Grand
Slam tournament began two weeks ago, will be No. 3. Sampras
withdrew before the opening round with a back injury.
With his victory over Slava Dosedel on Thursday night, Todd Martin
assured himself of a career-best ranking.
Previously ranked as high as fifth in the world in July 1994,
the 29-year-old American will jump to No. 4 when the updated
rankings are released Monday. Regardless of his
performance the rest of the way, Martin cannot move higher than
fourth.
Patrick Rafter took over the No. 1 ranking briefly this summer,
but he will fall outside the top 10 on Monday. Rafter, who won
the U.S. Open each of the last two years, retired in his
opening-round match with Cedric Pioline and will lose almost all
of the ranking points he earned here last year. He came in to
the U.S. Open ranked fourth in the world.
Everyone was there...
Saturday's attendance of 23,355 pushed the total for this year's
tournament to 561,437 -- a world record for a tennis event.
Another crowd in excess of 23,000 is expected for Sunday's final
session, which features the men's singles and women's doubles
finals. | |
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