SECTION 2 - PAGE 2
The Battle of America: Tennis Style at the U.S. Open
sports column
In the past weeks, tennis
dominated television. Wrestling,
other sporting events, and Craig
Kilhorn all lost out on their time
slots to the U.S. Open. Matches
were heated, and most people didn't
care Nvho won the third round.
However, did any tennis fan ever
contemplate the impact of the
Americans at the U.S. Open? I am
guessing that sonic American
citizens even wanted a foreign
player to win the championship
So, who was the best American at
the U.S. Open? Well, this is indeed
a complicated subject and one that
requires a bit more knowledge than
those Who picked up their tennis
savvy from watching their first two
hours of tennis this past weekend as
Marat Satin outplayed American
Pete Sampras. Should past titles and
experience even he considered when
asking which American player put in
the best performance? Can any
players be eliminated from
consideration in a field of men's
tennis players that are always upset
minded? On any given day, at any
given tournament, anyone can heat
the top ranked players in the world.
So what if you have never heard of
someone before! How many
Americans knew who Marat Satin
was before this past week?
Indeed this is a question that
requires some deep thought and
there is no one right answer for it.
So where do we begin'? The number
one player in the whole tournament
seems like a good starting point.
Andre Agassi came into the tennis
tournament as the favorite and was
•
:. t'4 ita
, •
, , ,
Behrend Scores
Women's Soccer
Sept. 6 Vs. Wooster W 2-0
Sept. 9 at Ohio Northern L 2-1
Sept. 10 at Heidelberg L 2-1
(20T)
Men's Soccer
Sept. 7 at Fredonia L 3-1
Volleyball
Sept. 6 at Brockport L 2-3
Sept. 8-9 Allegheny Tournament
L 0-3 Vs. Mt. Union,
Muskingum, and Westminster
L 1-3 Vs. Heidelberg
Sept. 12 Vs. Fredonia L 2-3
Cross Country
Sept. 9 at California (PA)
Men finished Bth
Women finished 9th
Women's Tennis
Sept. 9 at Allegheny Tournament
W 4-2 Vs. Carnegie Mellon
L 6-0 Vs. Allegheny
W 5-1 Vs. Fredonia
Sept. 10 at Alfred W 9-0
Penn State Altoona
Pitt-Bradford
Penn State Behrend
Frostburg
Pitt-Greensburg
La Roche
The next game is against Buffalo State, and the women's volleyball
team will kick off conference play on September 21 in a trip to Lake
Erie.
0
a?o ink *C bl
eth
111
knocked off by Arnaud
(lenient. Clement went on to
win two more matches past
Agassi, but unfortunately
Agassi did nothing for the
morale of American tennis
fans. Not too many fans
would disagree that Agassi
played below his level and
does not deserve much more
to be said on his performance
at the U.S. Open. However, it
does need to be said that some
so-called fans even stopped
watching the tournament after
Agassi bowed out.
There are a few other
Americans who can just he
kicked out of the picture right
now. Michael Chang has
faded from popularity big
time. He was once ranked in
the top 10, but now he does
not even come into the minds
of the tennis fan. Jennifer
Capriati has recovered from
drug abuse, but her game is
still lacking. She started in
her early teen years and may
have become burnt out. That
is why the Capriati Rule is in
effect, which limits the
number of matches young
teenagers can play
The possible answers to this
question come down to Pete
Sampras, Todd Martin,
Lindsay Davenport, Monica
Seles, Venus Williams, and
Serena Williams. Obviously
there is an argument for each
and every player listed above.
Unfortunately, Monica
Seles is the first one to be
eliminated. Seles has gone through
hardships, having been stabbed on
the court. Every time she steps on
the court could bring back
memories of pain and suffering.
(Standings as of September 11, 2000)
WOMEN'S SOCCER
School
Lake Erie
Pitt-Greensburg
Penn State Behrend
La Roche
Frostburg
Pitt- Bradford
MEN'S SOCCER
School
Pitt-Greensburg
Lake Erie
Penn State Behrend
Pitt-Bradford
Frostburg
La Roche
WOMEN'S TENNIS
School
Penn State Behrend
Penn State Altoona
Pitt-Bradford
Frostburg
La Roche 0-0
Pitt-Greensburg 0-2
Conference play in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference
began this week for the women's tennis team. The first conference
match was against Lake Erie, who returns to Behrend for a match
Sunda v.
WOMEN"S VOLLEYBALL
School
American Tennis Player Pete Sampras
Though her hack may have
recovered, she really has not shown
her talent level of the years prior to
the stabbing. Seles played Capriati
in the quarterfinals, which happened
at Wimbledon years hack and was
AMCC STANDINGS
Conference record Overall
1-0 1-3
0-1 0-2
0-0 3-2
0-0 2-1
0-0 1 -2
0-0 0- 1
Conference record Overall
1-0 1-2-1
0-1 0-3
0-0 2-I
0-0 1-1
0-0 0-3
0-0 0-4
9 P
Overall Record
3-1
1 -0
0-0
0-0
Overall Record
3-3
3-3
3-6
2-1
0-2
0-5
• )1")r-firm
supposed to he the duo of the future.
Well, both have faced trouble off the
court and have been trying to get
hack to superstar level.
Next to go is Lindsay Davenport.
She has dominated many
Major League
Baseball
(As 019/13)
American League East
New Y()rk
Boston
Toronto
Baltimore
Tampa ILI)
American League Central
Chicago
Cleveland
Detroit
Kansas City
Minnesota
American League West
W L GB
78 66 -
76 66 1
72 72 6
65 79 13
Team
Seattle
Oakland
Anaheim
Texas
American League Wild Card
Team
Cleveland
Oakland
Boston
Toronto
National League East
Team W LGB
Atlanta 84 60 -
New York 8 7 62 2
Florida 69 74 14.5
Montreal 61 82 22.5
Philadelphia 59 85 25
National League Central
Team
St. Louis
Cincinnati
Houston
Milwaukee
Pittsburgh
Chicago
National League West
Team W L GB
San Francisco 85 58 -
Arizona 76 66 8.5
Los Angeles 75 69 10.5
Colorado 73 70 12
San Diego 71 74 15
FILE PHOTO
the best comebacks in tennis
history at last year's Open and had
many memorable moments this year
also. Still, the gray hair on his head
was a tell tale story of his demise
this year. Satin totally destroyed
him on the way to the final. Martin
National League Wild Card
New York
Arizona
W L GB
83 59 -
75 67 8
75 69 9
65 79 19
61 83 23.5
League Leaders
(as of 9/11)
American League--Batting
Battin Averae
Garcia parra, BOS
Delgado, TOR
Erstad, ANA
W L GB
86 57 -
76 64 8.5
70 73 16
68 76 18.5
62 81 24
M. Ramirez„ CLE
Segui, TEX-CLE
Home Runs
Thomas, CHI
Glaus, ANA
Delgado, TOR
Batista, TOR
Justice, CLE-NY
American League--Pitching
Victories
Wells, TOR
Pettite, NY
P.Martinez, BOS
Hudson, OAK
W L GB
76 64 -
76 66 1
75 67 2
75 693
W L GB
83 61 -
74 71 9.5
63 81 20
63 81 20
61 82 21.5
60 84 23
tournaments this past year and
was in the best shape of her
career for the U.S. Open. The
Williams sisters seemed to be
the only obstacle in her way
since Martina Hingis simply
glided to the semifinals.
American women seem to be
at a level above the rest of the
world. Davenport has easily
stood out this year, despite all
the news on the Williams
sisters. Davenport beat last
year's champion, Serena
Williams, in the semifinals in
straight sets. It was a
wonderfully played match,
giving Serena the benefit of
the doubt since she was under
extreme pressure being the
defending champion.
With that said, Serena still
had more to do to be
considered the best American
at the U.S. Open. She is
young and has a lot of
championships yet to come.
She is one of the new
generation of women tennis
players that can overpower
just about anyone on the tour.
She is built like a brick wall.
For now, Serena can be
eliminated from consideration
because one-day critics may
be calling her one of the best
players ever.
Todd Martin became the
night owl of the tournament
often playing four or five set
matches into the wee hours of
the evening. He had one of
W L GB
82 62 -
76 66 4.5
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2000
excited the fans for much of the
tournament, hut his lackluster
performance in the semifinals killed
his chances of being the best
American at the Open.
We are down to Pete Sampras and
Venus Williams. Sampras is
probably the best American tennis
player ever. He has set unbelievable
records at Wimbledon and the U.S.
Open. His performance at ihe
French Open has been less than
desired, but his amazing
performances throughout the years
cannot be downplayed. However,
he falls victim to some of the same
criticism of the other candidates for
this question. His competition to the
final was not all that good. With so
many upsets in the earlier rounds,
Sampras was the highest ranked
player going into the quarterfinals.
Also, the champion of the U.S.
Open, Safin simply outplayed
Sampras in the final.
In this discussion Venus Williams
seems to come out on top. She heat
the top ranked player. Martina
Hingis, followed by the very fit
Davenport. Venus seems to he
coming into her prime. She is older
than her sister is and the talent level
appears to he maturing in the right
order. it is a shame that the tennis
season is coming to a close soon,
because fans would probably
witness amazing tennis skills from
Venus later this year. Opinions
differ. but it is hard to disagree with
the 2000 U.S. Open womens
champion as the best American at
the tournament.
Strikeouts
P.Martinez, BOS
Mussina, BAL
Colon, CLE
Clemens, NY
Finley. CLE
National League-
Batting Aver
Helton, COL
362
357
356
.345
.338
Alou, HOU
V. Guerrero, MT
Hammonds, COL
Castillo, FLA
Home Run
Sosa, CHI
Bonds, SF
Bagwell, HOU
Sheffield, LA
National League-
Victories
Glavine, ATL
Johnson, AR!
Kile, STL,
Strikeouts
Johnson, ARI
Astacio, COL
Leiter, NY
Dempster, FLA
Brown, LA
259
186
174
165
164
-Batting
379
358
354
.347
341
49
45
42
41
-Pitching
313
192
187
185
183