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| Saturday, September 11 | |||||
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 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.
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