King Named Coach of U.S. Women’s Team

Billie Jean King believes she will be coaching a “dream team” in the Sydney Olympic Games, and that could be a problem.

“I look good because I am like Phil Jackson. I get all the great horses,” King said in New York Tuesday after being introduced as the coach of the U.S. women’s Olympic team.

Under Olympic rules, the top players who qualify must be picked for the team.

“I don’t have a choice,” King said. “I don’t get to choose like I do at Fed Cup. I have to go strictly by the rules and go by rankings. In a way, it’s easier for me because I don’t have a choice.”

The United States conceivably could be represented by second-ranked Lindsay Davenport, who won the singles gold medal four years ago in Atlanta, No. 5 Venus Williams and No. 6 Monica Seles.

For the doubles, King could select either Serena Williams, who is ranked eighth in singles but has won several Grand Slam tournament doubles titles with her older sister Venus, or Lisa Raymond, who is ranked first in doubles.

“We have the best players in the world in America,” King said. “I am lucky to be the coach. I don’t win it, they win it. I just try to make it fun for them and help them.”

The men’s captain will be announced soon, a USTA spokesperson said.

The two teams must be selected on Monday, July 10, the day after Wimbledon ends.

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It hardly seems like a fair fight: six-time Wimbledon champion Pete Sampras against grasscourt novice Jiri Vanek.

Still, the top-seeded Sampras is a bit edgy about his first-round opponent at Wimbledon.

“I don’t know him. I’ve never seen him play,” Sampras said after the tournament draw.

“It’s a little unsettling to play someone you’ve never seen play.”

A tougher obstacle for Sampras will probably come in the second round, when he would face Karol Kucera or Juan Carlos Ferrero.

Andre Agassi, seeded second, opens against a qualifier and could face fellow American Todd Martin in the second round.

In the women’s draw, defending champion Davenport will open against her doubles partner, Corina Morariu.

Top-seeded Martina Hingis will play Spain’s Angeles Montolio.

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Tim Henman’s warmup for Wimbledon took another bad turn with a 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 loss to Jonas Bjorkman in the first round of the Nottingham Open at England. . . . Defending champion Natasha Zvereva beat Raymond, 7-5, 6-3, at Eastbourne, England. Top-seeded Davenport will face Jana Kandarr of Germany in the second round. Kandarr beat Anne-Gaelle Sidot of France, 6-2, 6-2. . . . Top-seeded Lleyton Hewitt of Australia dropped out of the Heineken Trophy tournament to rest for Wimbledon. Hingis, the No. 1 woman, enjoyed a 6-0, 6-4 win over Canada’s Jana Nejedly.