THE HEAT IS ON

It's time for the hardcourt season! The switch to the tough stuff began the last week of July in Los Angeles, the first in a series of tuneups for the U.S. Open, which starts in late August. Along the way are two serious Super Nines for the men, Canada and Cincinnati.

This year's hardcourt battles shape up to be the best in the last few years. On the men's side, the game's three prime-time players -- Sampras, Agassi and Rafter -- are invigorated after recent French Open, Wimbledon and Davis Cup play. The troika has combined to win the last six U.S. Opens, and it would appear that streak should continue this year.

Rafter, who took over as the ATP computer's No. 1 for the first time on July 26, was the hot man the last two summers. It will be difficult for him to maintain the top ranking because he basically ran the table at last year's hardcourt events. Agassi also played well last summer. Sampras has fewer points to defend leading up the U.S. Open, where he made the semis last year.

But it would be a mistake to assume that Sampras, Agassi and Rafter will take all the prizes in the North American heat. Hard courts are probably the fairest surface of all on the men's tour. Serve- and-volleyers like Krajicek, Henman, Rusedski and Rafter can win, but so can clay-courters like Rios, Moya, Corretja and even Kuerten. That will mean a lot of good matchups in the later rounds of the summer tournaments. In addition to the big three, we expect to see good summers from Rios, as he recovers from nagging injuries; Moya, who will be motivated after having a disappointing year so far; Philippoussis, who has a lot of game on the hard courts; and perhaps Enqvist and Krajicek.

On the women's side, Lindsay Davenport has tons of points to defend from last year, but we expect her to play well this summer. Graf, in her farewell tour, could have problems with the hard courts, which are tougher on her body. Watch out for the Williams sisters, who both love hard courts. And we are betting on a hot summer from Aussie teen Jelena Dokic. The big question mark will be Hingis, whenever she comes out of hiding. We can't pretend to know what's going on in her head, but it sure seems like she is ripe to be upset by the hungry youngsters.

July 25, 1999