No Worry About Rain, so Stars Will Come Out

El Nino won’t be bothering the tennis world in Southern California the next fortnight.

A bold statement, certainly.

You might as well see circle-slash El Nino signs at Indian Wells. But the fact is, a major disruption at the Newsweek Champions Cup/State Farm Evert Cup--or is that State Farm Evert Cup/Newsweek Champions Cup?--is unthinkable.

Here, rain is given a two-week bye.

And tournament director Charlie Pasarell is working on getting the wind to calm down and quit annoying spectators and disrupting Boris Becker’s golf game.

Kidding aside, tournament officials connected with the Newsweek event can remember losing perhaps one full day in recent years because of bad weather. The women’s event, which used to be held separately, hasn’t always been so fortunate and one year, T-shirts were made to reflect the chaos.

Of course, fearless weather watchers once said there wouldn’t be enough snow in Nagano for the Winter Olympics and we all know what happened day after day on the ski hills there.

But now, how can El Nino possibly compete against the sheer star power of Martina Hingis, Pete Sampras, Venus Williams, Steffi Graf, Andre Agassi and Becker? About the only top players not scheduled to compete at Indian Wells--which starts with women’s qualifying on Wednesday--are Jana Novotna, Iva Majoli, Mary Pierce and Richard Krajicek.

Krajicek is the only player among the top 30 men not entered at Indian Wells. Seven of the top 10 women are scheduled to play. Making their first appearances of the year are 1992 champion Monica Seles, who has not been playing for personal reasons, and 1995 champion Mary Joe Fernandez, who is recovering from right wrist surgery.

As always, old and new injuries prevent the draw from being chiseled in stone. Just how is Graf’s left knee since she played singles and doubles two weeks ago in Germany after more than eight months away?

Australian Open champion Petr Korda’s back trouble flared up in London last week. And Marcelo Rios withdrew from Philadelphia because of tendinitis in his right knee. But Chilean media reports indicate he will appear at Indian Wells.

Last year, the women’s tournament took a great leap forward with a payout of $1.25 million, up from the $550,000 figure of 1996. In 1998, the women’s purse is $1.25 million and the men’s prize money is $2.45 million.

But the biggest change at Grand Champions Resort is a positive one for spectators. Because of the impressive field, many key matches have previously landed on the Clubhouse Court, an intimate but sometimes overcrowded setting.

This year, seating capacity at the Clubhouse Court has been doubled to 3,000 in a move to alleviate the situation, officials said. Tickets remain available for all sessions, with prices ranging from $3 for qualifying to $55 for loge seating for the men’s final March 15.

Tickets may be ordered by telephone, (800) 999-1585, or on the tournament’s site on the World Wide Web [https://www.champions-cup.com].

SISTER ACT

Serena Williams, 16, is determined to establish a separate identity from her older sister Venus, and it is happening off the court and on it with relative swiftness.

Lindsay Davenport, the No. 2 player in the world, recently said she thought the 42nd-ranked Serena, was better than Venus.

“Well, I think that is because I was able to come victorious in a few matches we played,” Serena said. “I played her twice and both of them were very close. I think when Venus played her, they weren’t very close. I think the third match was. However, she probably feels that I am a little stronger right now.”

Serena defeated Davenport at Sydney in January and has beaten three other top-10 players since November--Seles, Pierce and Irina Spirlea.

But she shares her sister’s quirky sense of humor.

“My goal by the end of the year is to be somewhere in the top 15,” Serena said. “My main goal this year, however, is to get an A in zoology.”

HOMETOWN FAVORITE

Davenport, who lives in Newport Beach, could not have asked for much more success in her local appearances in 1997. She won at Indian Wells and beat Hingis at Manhattan Beach in the semifinals last summer, before losing in the final to Seles after holding a match point.

Now, she already holds a victory over Hingis in 1998.

“Every time I feel like I play Martina, I feel like I have the chance to win and that I could win the match or maybe win the tournament if I am playing her,” Davenport said. “But it is tough. She has so many consistent results over the whole year, winning Grand Slams.

“Right now, in my mind is not to overtake her in the rankings and to become No. 1 because I’m still pretty far off.”

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Tennis Events in the Desert

* WHAT: State Farm Evert Cup/Newsweek Champions Cup

* WHERE: Grand Champions Resort, Indian Wells.

* WHEN: Friday-March 14 (women’s event), March 9-15 (men’s event).

* QUALIFYING: Wednesday, Thursday (women); Saturday, Sunday (men).

* WHO TO WATCH: Defending champions Lindsay Davenport and Michael Chang. Other top players expected include Martina Hingis, Pete Sampras, Monica Seles, Andre Agassi, Venus and Serena Williams and Boris Becker.

* SURFACE: Hard court.

* TV: Live on ESPN, March 9-15.

* TICKETS: (800) 999-1585.