Columnist Victoria Sun: Testud survives rough trip to LV charity event

Victoria Sun

Friday, July 21, 2000 | 10:02 a.m.

Victoria Sun's tennis column appears Friday. Reach her at 259-4078 or victoria@lasvegassun.com

What should have been a routine trip from Milan to Las Vegas turned out to be a harrowing experience for the 11th-ranked player on the Sanex WTA Tour.

Sandrine Testud and her husband, Vittorio Magnelli, boarded a plane scheduled to arrive in Las Vegas early Wednesday evening. It took off without a hitch, but half an hour into the flight, the pilot turned back and the couple ended up stranded in the airport for five hours.

"One of the reactors was broken," Testud said Thursday. "The plane was very shaky.

"It wasn't a major problem, but it was scary. Five hours sitting in the airport was not so good."

Testud is one of 12 tennis professionals scheduled to participate in the sold-out Players For the Cure exhibition that will be held Saturday at Red Rock Country Club to benefit the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition.

Lindsay Davenport was supposed to play, but pulled out with a back injury. Venus Williams won't make it because she will be playing World Team Tennis, but younger sister Serena Williams and French Open champion Mary Pierce are among those scheduled to participate.

Other than her rough trip, Testud has had little to complain about.

The 10-year tour veteran reached the fourth round of the Australian Open and cracked the top 10 of the rankings for the first time earlier this year. She will most likely be representing France at the Olympics.

"I think they're going to announce the decision (today) or (shortly) after," Testud said. "I'm supposed to be on the team.

"I'm very excited. It's probably my last chance to play the Olympics so I'm looking forward to going to Sydney. It was one of my goals this season."

Before that, Testud will be heading to Stanford, Calif., next week to play in the Bank of the West Classic in preparation for the U.S. Open. And after that she plans on playing in the Acura Classic in San Diego.

Although the schedule is grueling, Testud said it was important for her to support the inaugural Players for the Cure.

"Actually, I know very close friends that have had this sickness," she said. "I am a very good friend of Linda (Long, event coordinator and vice president of Puma North America) and when she told me about it, I was happy to help here."

This is Testud's first trip to Las Vegas, and she said she and her husband were looking forward to seeing magician Lance Burton and maybe trying their luck at the casinos.

"I'm going to try to find some time after the show," she said. "It's difficult not to play here.

"I was so surprised to see they were gambling in the airport. I didn't know they had that. It was funny."

He is 23-year-old heartthrob Jan-Michael Gambill of Colbert, Wash.

Anna Kournikova, considered the sexiest women's professional tennis player, if not the sexiest female athlete in the world at age 19, has never won a singles tournament, and the last time she made it past the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam event was in 1997. Yet she has been on numerous covers of sports and fashion magazines, including an 11-page spread in SI's June 5 issue that featured Kournikova on the cover projecting a seductive pose and a come-hither stare.

If you want to argue that because Gambill is older than Kournikova, he's bound to have better results, don't bother. Gambill turned pro in 1996 while the Russian beauty turned pro in 1995.

But as attractive as Gambill is, he has no intentions of being a male version of Kournikova, who seems more consumed with what lipstick will match her racy off-court attire than with her results on the court.

"I can't control other people for comparing me to whoever they want to compare me to," Gambill said. "I can't change the way I look either.

"I want to go out and play great tennis. That's all I think about out there on the court."

Hey, SI. If you're going to put someone on your cover just because they're hot, why not devote 11 pages to the All-American Gambill or Australian dime (as in perfect 10) Patrick Rafter, who was a Wimbledon finalist this year and has won two U.S. Opens?

It's only fair.

The 30-year-old Las Vegan had until 9 a.m. today to withdraw from the event, but media coordinator Toby Zwikel said he did not exercise that right.

"All indications are he will play," Zwikel said. "He has not pulled out.

"He is scheduled to play Monday evening at the 'A Night at the Net' charity exhibition featuring actor Dustin Hoffman and comedian Dennis Miller so I think he will play his first-round match Tuesday night."

Because the University of Pennsylvania does not award athletic scholarships, Shin said she will continue playing club level tennis and possibly walk on the team her sophomore year.

"I've loaded up on classes academically," she said. "I'm going to see how I do my freshman year and see if I can handle my courses before I decide if I can play for the team.

"The scholarship will help me out tremendously because the tuition at Penn is very expensive. I am so grateful to have received it."