| | MELBOURNE, Australia -- Bandy or tennis. Tennis or bandy.
Magnus Norman had to make a choice about his sporting career at age
16, deciding whether to continue with his winter pursuit, bandy, a
sport similar to hockey, or concentrate on tennis.
The choice came down to lifestyle.
"It was quite funny actually because I got an invitation from
the Swedish Bandy Federation to go with a Swedish team to Russia.
The same day I got this letter from the Swedish Tennis Federation
asking me to go to Florida, so I chose between Moscow and
Florida."
And after reaching the semifinals of the Australian Open, the
12th-seeded Norman said he was happy with his decision.
"Sometimes I get the chance" to play bandy, he said.
"Actually, I practiced with the best team in Sweden during the
Stockholm Open and it was a lot of fun and, yeah, something that
I'd like to do when I get the time off."
Inches away
Fourth-seeded Nicolas Kiefer says he's only
inches away from a breakthrough into a Grand Slam final.
After bowing out in the quarterfinals to Sweden's Magnus Norman,
Kiefer was asked what was holding him back.
Holding his thumb and forefinger an inch apart, he indicated
that he was just about that far away. The big-serving German was
referring to the number of shots that just missed the sidelines and
were called out, instead of being a fraction closer and being
called in.
"I think I'm knocking at the door to go very far in a Grand
Slam," he said. "It can happen this year but it can happen next
year or in two years. I try to improve my game, I think positive.
It try to stay in and it's just a question of the time."
Ticketless
About 500 angry tennis fans were reportedly
planning a mass sit-in Thursday night at Melbourne Park after an
organizational bungle made their tickets invalid for the men's
semifinal between Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi.
The fans, mainly from Australia's interstate capitals, each
bought airline packages which also included tickets for four days
of tennis and, reportedly, the night session for the men's
semifinal.
The mixup was discovered when some of the fans received an
apology letter instead of their seats.
After negotiations between Open organizers and the airline, the
500 fans were offered a refund of the ticket price plus light
refreshments and a seat to watch the semifinal on a big screen at
Melbourne Park.
But the fans want to see the match live.
Lisa Basile, who traveled from the Gold Coast in Queensland,
told the Herald Sun newspaper of Melbourne that she'd paid 1,370
Australian dollars, or $891, for her package
"I was offended," she said of the compensation offer. "I
could have stayed in Brisbane," to watch it on television."
Go figure
Jennifer Capriati would like to see her ranking
improve considerably after reaching her first Grand Slam semifinal
in nine years.
But it won't. Under the WTA tour rankings system, she'll be
outpaced in the rankings jump by players who were ousted in the
earlier rounds.
Capriati, 21st, will move to No. 17 after losing to No. 2
Lindsay Davenport in the semis.
Nathalie Tauziet will go from No. 8 to a career-high No. 6
despite losing in the second round and Russian Anna Kournikova will
go from 12th to a career-high ninth after reaching the round of 16.
Conchita Martinez will improve from 13th to seventh by virtue of
reaching the semis.
The biggest loser will be Amelie Mauresmo, a finalist here last
year but an early casualty this year, who will drop eight spots to
14th.
The men's tour revamped its ranking system this year, installing
the Champions' Race, which wipes the slate clean every year and
allocates points for the leading players in each tournament. | |
ALSO SEE
Agassi, Sampras meet a round too soon in Aussie Open semis
Davenport stops Capriati's run, reaches Australian Open final
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