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CNN Live At Daybreak

Big Weekend Match-Ups For U.S. Open Semifinals

Aired September 07, 2001 - 07:38   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
VINCE CELLINI, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it is a big finish this weekend at an explosive professional tennis tournament. Martina Hingis will play Serena Williams today in a much anticipated U.S. Open semifinals match-up. And Venus Williams will tangle with comeback kid Jennifer Capriati.

Joining us now to talk about it is "Sports Illustrated's" senior writer, Jon Wertheim, who also is the author of the book "Venus Envy." Great title, Jon.

JON WERTHEIM, AUTHOR, "VENUS ENVY": Thanks.

CELLINI: It's good to have you on the program. So we might have a sister slam for the first time, Venus and Serena meeting in a grand slam final. Do you anticipate that happening?

WERTHEIM: Yes, I actually do. I think it's going to happen. I think Serena is going to overpower Martina Hingis, which has sort of been the trend for the past few years. And Jennifer Capriati and Venus, this is sort of a match for supremacy. Cpri won the first two slames of the year. Venus won Wimbledon. This should be a great match and I think Venus will win it.

CELLINI: Let's get to Martina and Serena. And there are so many subplots here. Hingis has won the last three meetings, but of course the comments in "Time" magazine, there's no love lost here anyway. So, you know, it's just a little added extra flavor to the match, don't you think?

WERTHEIM: Oh, sure. There's this undercurrent. They're not going to be going out to dinner after the match regardless of who wins. And I think that's something that really adds to the intrigue of women's tennis in general, that you have these rivalries, you have this competition. So, yes, that definitely will add to the match today.

CELLINI: I think also adding to the real popularity of women's tennis is a story like Jennifer Capriati's. I mean this is one of the great comeback stories in all of sport, 24 and 1 in grand slam tournaments this year, but 0 and 2 against the defending champ, Venus. But Capriati, just amazing. Jon, your thoughts?

WERTHEIM: Oh, it's right up there with Lance Armstrong. It's just a great, great story and nobody would have predicted it a few years ago. She sort of -- after her time away she came back in fits and starts and she's really gotten it together this year. And if she wins this, it'll just be -- three of the four slams, it'll be a great, great story.

CELLINI: Now, I have to ask you about a tennis player who isn't even at the U.S. Open, Anna Kournikova, withdrawing with an injury. Now, is tennis something that Anna does between modeling assignments? She's never won on the WTA tournament. What's the deal? It's just...

WERTHEIM: Well, that's the perception. Ironically enough, she actually trains pretty hard. The problem this year is she's been injured for a great part of the year. But the running joke is that she's done so well and made so much in endorsements without winning a tournament, maybe she can make so much money if she doesn't even play.

CELLINI: Prime time assignment for the women's final, that really is a statement toward the popularity of their events, is it not?

WERTHEIM: Oh, absolutely. Yes. It's, you know, this is going to be the first time ever that the women's event is going to be broadcast in prime time and I think that really shows how far the sport's come.

CELLINI: On the men's side, Andy Roddick, 19 years old, but a blowup against Lleyton Hewitt. He's lost in three of four grand slams to Hewitt. But is Roddick still on track to be the next one for American men's tennis?

WERTHEIM: Oh, I think so. I mean Lleyton Hewitt was the number four seed and Andy Roddick loses to him, you know, 6-4 in the third set, in the fifth set. It was just a great match. And I think if you'd seen him play this tournament, you saw how he handled the pressure, the big crowds, the night matches, I think he has nothing to be ashamed of. Just a great performance. We're going to hear a lot about him.

CELLINI: Hewitt against Kafelnikov and then it's Marat Safin and Pete Sampras in the other semifinal, and that's a rematch of last year's final. But Sampras, talk about comebacks. I mean he really put it together. And some people say -- not me -- some people say that, you know, he wasn't the same after marriage.

WERTHEIM: Yes, right. The marriage curse of tennis. But, no, it's unbelievable. Two weeks ago nobody would have picked him to win this. Here's a guy who hasn't won a tournament since Wimbledon of 2000 and he comes and within the span of about 48 hours beats Pat Rafter and Agassi back to back, just great tennis, great stuff. It's really wonderful to see him back. Whether he comes down off that high, I think that Agassi match was sort of his Super Bowl. It will be interesting to see if he can sustain it. If so, I think he's the favorite going into this weekend.

CELLINI: Real quick, Jon, before we go, give me a ladies and men's champion. WERTHEIM: I think you've got to go with Venus and I think if Pete Sampras keeps this up, I never would have said it two weeks ago, but I think he's going to be the men's champ.

CELLINI: All right, great stories both.

Jon Wertheim, thank you very much for joining us this morning.

WERTHEIM: Thanks, Vince.

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