Who Are You Calling An Old Lady?

By Harriet Barovick

One is a pinup. Another is the No. 1-ranked girl next door. The remaining two are proof that sisterhood is powerful. And no one can get enough of them. Leno and Letterman love the Tennis Gang of Four. So do the magazines that have little to do with sports. Anna Kournikova, 17, is among PEOPLE's 50 Most Beautiful People. GQ posed Martina Hingis, 17, on its cover, the first female athlete ever to have the honor. Vogue expounds on the tres chic Venus and Serena Williams, 18 and 16, respectively. When the U.S. Open begins this week, the four will be more ubiquitous than ever. As the tournament gets under way in New York City, Reebok will be roaming Manhattan in projector-equipped trucks beaming Venus Williams' face (complete with braces, beaded hair and brash attitude) onto buildings throughout the city. Says a laughing Venus: "There are gonna be a lot of beads in New York."

Ah, watch out, Venus. There are rivals taking a bead on the four of you.

For all their pizazz and prowess, the four are hardly providing the real action on the tennis court. Instead, they have lit a fire under the tour's veteran players, who for a time last year seemed in danger of being edged out of the game. Emboldened by the bratty antics of their juniors, the "old ladies"--in tennis speak that's ages 22 to 35--are roaring back. And the generational battles have made for what Billie Jean King calls "the greatest time in the history of women's tennis."

While Hingis cleaned up in 1997 (she was the youngest woman to win Wimbledon since 1887), the veterans so far own 1998. Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, 26, and Monica Seles, 24, were the finalists in the French Open in June. Jana Novotna, 29, and Nathalie Tauziat, 30, were the finalists at Wimbledon in July. (Sanchez Vicario and Novotna would triumph.) All four got there by defeating their younger rivals--with not a few fireworks on the way. In the fourth round of the French Open, Sanchez Vicario was on her way toward defeating Serena Williams when the younger player, frustrated by the imminent loss, slammed a ball over the net--aimed directly at her opponent's head. Sanchez Vicario now laughs and says the incident is securely in the past. Then she adds, "I was very, very surprised that when she had an open court she was just trying to hit me--you know? That sometimes shows the personality on and off the court." Of her own age group, Sanchez Vicario says defiantly, "We were here before, and we're still here."

"They'd been coasting for too long," says former tour player and Tennis magazine contributor Andrea Leand of the veterans. "They let their games go." But now, with the challenge from the youngsters, "they're moving into a new standard of play." There is a lot at stake. TV ratings for five of the past six major women's tennis tournaments have equaled or surpassed the men's tournaments. Prize money has more than doubled in the past decade. Attendance, more than 3.5 million last year, is at a new high. Says Bart McGuire, CEO of the Women's Tennis Association: "It's great tennis, but also it's great theater." And it's the theater--and the extracurricular residuals--that can rankle some veterans. Of the teens and their entourage, says Tauziat: "They make more publicity from their image than on their game. I don't think it's good for tennis or for the other players. Everyone needs respect."

There have always been compelling rivalries in women's tennis: Billie Jean King and Margaret Court; Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert; Steffi Graf and Monica Seles. And young, talented players, overwhelmed by the pressures of success, have often alienated their tour mates. But in the past, there was room for just two great rivals at a time. "Now," says Butch Buchholz, chairman of the Lipton and Pilot Pen tournaments, "we have a handful of names that sell tickets, which makes the appeal wider and the product just better."

The younger echelon has never been quite so sassy before--a fact that has served only to highlight the maturity of their eminently graceful elders. While preparing for the French Open in May, Hingis noted that Graf--who had just announced her return after an injury--was past her prime. ("Everyone's entitled to their own opinion," says Graf.) At Wimbledon, Venus Williams threw a volcanic tantrum over a line call in her battle against Novotna. (Novotna on the histrionics: "I don't even look at her.") And the younger crew is not shy about its narcissism. When British tabloids published pictures of Kournikova taken from behind, the athlete declared they were "great" depictions of her derriere: "Hey, it wasn't fat." She has also suggested that those who objected to her crowing were just jealous.

For the veterans, the teen churlishness has been like a tonic. Lindsay Davenport, who most recently beat Hingis at the Acura in Los Angeles in early August, has taken three tournaments in a row this summer. "She's playing the best tennis by far at the moment," says Martina Navratilova. The self-deprecating Californian has never sought the spotlight and has suffered from criticism of her weight. Now, she's 25 lbs. lighter and many times fitter. Two weeks ago, she was sitting down for a makeover and being filmed by a network TV show. Davenport, 22, says she's not "looking to conquer the markets" dominated by the teen squad. But she readily acknowledges an on-court generational rivalry. "I think it's kind of inspired the older players--and I'll include myself in that group--to practice harder, to maybe want it more. There's more of a sense that we don't want that 16- year-old to win a Grand Slam. It's given new life to the game."

And new levels of fun. Pam Shriver, 36, who retired last year, relishes her last professional foray, a doubles match that she and Elizabeth Smylie, then 34, played against Kournikova and Elena Likhovtseva, then 21, at Wimbledon in 1997. Hordes of hormonal boys were in the stands screaming "Come on, Horni-kova!" says Shriver as she only too happily recalls extending the younger team to a long third set before finally losing. And was Kournikova gracious in victory? Shriver bellows in laughter, "I'm sorry, but I don't think she knows the meaning of the word."

Of course, the young guns have plenty of time to learn. And even Kournikova, a would-be movie star, may be learning a bit of discretion. In Montreal for a tournament two weeks ago, she eschewed all talk about boyfriends, tattoos or fashion. Instead, attempts to bring forth the infamous Anna attitude were met with flat, seemingly programmed remarks: "I'm just here to play tennis." Says Leand: "She's been told to tone down. She's trying to change the image she's cultivated." And that includes abandoning her old managers at IMG. Advantage International, which represents Kournikova's 28-year-old "good friend" and hockey star, Sergei Fedorov of the Detroit Red Wings, is expected to be taking over.

Lessons can go both ways, though. And the older players may be picking up attitude points from the younger ones. In the semifinals in Montreal between Novotna and Sanchez Vicario, Novotna seemed veritably Venusized. During the heated second set, which went to a tiebreaker, the usually elegant Czech flipped the umpire the bird. Sanchez Vicario eventually won the match. And the tournament? It went to another old lady: Monica Seles.