Controversy and champions at the U.S. Open

Controversy has been the name of the game this year in Flushing, New York, as tennis fans have been treated to a relatively unpredictable, non-supersonic U.S. Open Tournament. There have been scandals, celebrations, and upsets, all of which will culminate in this weekend's championship matches on stadium court.

The tournament has attracted more than its usual level of attention this year, due to the opening of the new Arthur Ashe Tennis Stadium. In a gala ceremony on Sun., Aug. 24, tennis legends from the world over gathered to unveil the USTA's new creation.

Notably absent from the ceremony, however, was New York City Mayor and avid sports fan, Rudy Giuliani. Giuliani declared to the news media that he would boycott the U.S. Open this year because of a provision in the new stadium's deal with the city, orchestrated by former Mayor David Dinkins. The provision, which states that planes taking off from LaGuardia Airport are not to fly over the tennis complex during matches, is meant to minimize distractions to the players. If the regulation is not heeded, the City of New York faces hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.

Giuliani's anger may seem very reasonable, but one must consider that the Open is one of the largest sports money producers for New York (second only to the city's Yankees), and the tournament generates priceless amounts of publicity and tourism.

Giuliani's stance is puzzling. In a period of relative racial unrest in New York, why would the mayor want to criticize, and then boycott, a stadium named after Ashe, one of the greatest African-Americans in tennis history? The money lost by the city in the plane issue is a mere fraction of the total revenue created for New York by the U.S. Open Tournament.

The mayor's indefensible position has put a damper on the opening of the stadium. Giuliani should have bitten the bullet and acknowledged that his predecessor Dinkins made a good deal for a spectacular facility.

Tennis fans give the stadium mixed reviews. The USTA has followed the lead of all other new arenas in America and installed a battery of luxury boxes for its super-wealthy spectators. Many long-time tennis fans have expressed resentment over this addition, and feel that although there are plenty of seats (almost 20,000), there are too many bad seats, due to the glut of luxury boxes taking up prime space. It is not so easy to watch a tennis match from hundreds of feet up, as over 7,000 spectators will have to do.

Other fans have complained that the new stadium lacks the charm and intimacy of the old facility--it certainly appears to be a behemoth of blue and steel and not much else. However, with time, Ashe Stadium should acquire a richness all its own, heightened by the history that will be created within its walls.

The inaugural season has already begun lending some magic to the new stadium, as it has been marked by upset victories and emerging stars. In the men's bracket, top-seeded Pete Sampras was knocked out in the Round 16 by 15th seed Petr Korda. Good for you, Petr. Even though Sampras has a new girlfriend, Kimberly Williams of Father of the Bride fame, I still can't bear to watch him play a match, no matter how often CBS pans over to Williams. He's just excruciatingly boring. He makes the highlight reel when he pumps his fist, and I think the last time he got that excited was in 1991. Excuse me, but I like my athletes a little bit feisty. Farewell Pete.

The men are guaranteed at least one unseeded player in the finals, as the top semifinal bracket pits unseeded Jonas Bjorkman (who subsequently defeated Korda) against hard-serving Brit Greg Rusedski, also unseeded. The other semifinal features 11th seed Patrick Rafter against either the two-seed Michael Chang. With Sampras out of the way, Chang looks to have a clear shot at his second Grand Slam, and his first ever U.S. Open title. Chang deserves it. He's one of the quickest and hardest-working players on the tour.

On the female side, unseeded 17-year-old Venus Williams has been attracting all of the attention. Williams disappointed many at Wimbledon, where she fizzled out in the first round, leaving many to snidely comment that perhaps there was nothing more to Williams than her colorfully beaded hair. She entered the Open 66th in the world, but will undoubtedly exit it considerably higher up in the rankings.

Williams' impressive 6'1" frame and lightning-fast serves--she's been clocked at 119 m.p.h., tops for women-- have carried her straight into the women's semis. Williams blew through the first five rounds dropping only one set, the first female player since Pam Shriver to reach the semis in her Open debut. Williams will face 11th-seed Irina Spirlea in the semis.

The other bracket pits number-one seed Martina Hingis against sixth-seeded American Lindsay Davenport. Williams seems to have already eclipsed the spotlight from Hingis, who just stepped into it herself.

Arthur Ashe Stadium has been christened with fanfare and fine tennis. This weekend marks the close of the Grand Slam season. Even amid controversy, we will crown two new Open Champions in the shadow of the great Ashe, in his stadium and in reverence to his legacy.

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