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The Sarasota Clay Court Classic had the setting, field and fan support to thrive as a WTA Tour event. What it did not have was a spot on the calendar.
Not a viable one anyway.
After the WTA reworked its 2004 schedule to make room for the Olympics and better accommodate TV, the event was put in a crunch. Organizers had two options: go head to head with the Bausch & Lomb Championships in Amelia Island or with the Federation Cup, both more established events.
They did not think either date would work, so the tournament, a WTA event for two years, was disbanded.
"It's disappointing," tournament director Lesley Eckert said. "We looked at a lot of different options. I believe as the community got more and more behind it and it became more recognizable it was definitely going to become a bigger and bigger event."
The 2002 event drew 12,000 for the week. This year, the field improved (Jelena Dokic, Anastasia Myskina, Martina Navratilova and Anna Kournikova played) and attendance increased to 16,000, Eckert said.
"The tournament was an incredible success," Eckert said. "The fans came out in numbers and the players really enjoyed it."
Organizers are hopeful it can return.
"We're talking with the WTA to see if something will open up," Eckert said. "We're optimistic, but there are no guarantees."
ON A RUN: No, Andy Roddick has not won the big one, but there is no denying the 20-year-old American has stepped it up this year. Roddick's title Sunday at the RCA Championships in Indianapolis, a hardcourt tournament, was his third in five events. He is 20-2 during that stretch. More important, he is 15-1 with new coach Brad Gilbert. "It's a great way to start the hardcourt season," Roddick said.
CONSISTENT CONTENDER: Kim Clijsters, like Roddick, is without a major (in singles), but Sunday's 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 win in the Bank of the West Classic over Saddlebrook's Jennifer Capriati was her ninth final in 12 events this year. She is 5-4 in finals. WHERE HAS HE GONE?: Two-time major champion Lleyton Hewitt, who began the year ranked No. 1, is fifth thanks to a helter-skelter performance. He is 25-6 with two singles titles (none since March), but has not avanced past the fourth round of a major and lost to unknown qualifier Ivo Karlovic in the first round at Wimbledon. Hewitt is 15th in the ATP Tour Champions race, the season's point standings. At this pace he would fail to qualify for the prestigious season-ending Tennis Masters Cup in November. The top seven in the Champions Race get automatic invites. The eighth spot goes to a current Grand Slam winner who is not in the top eight but within the top 20 or the eighth player in the standings.
Hewitt is playing this week in Los Angeles, his first tournament since Wimbledon.
SCRATCHING THE SURFACE: No. 7 Guillermo Coria is 42-11 this year with three titles. Each of the Argentine's championships came on clay, as did two runner-up finishes and a semifinal appearance at the French Open. ODDS AND ENDS: After 38 of the WTA's 58 tournaments, Americans have 10 titles, more than any country. Belgium is not far behind with nine (five by Clijsters, four by Justine Henin-Hardenne). ... Tampa Palms resident James Blake, ranked No. 27, begins his title defense today at the Legg Mason Classic in Washington. Blake's championship there last year was his first on tour, and he became the fourth African-American to win a title in the Open Era (since 1968). ... Capriati is 5-11 in three-set matches this year and 11 of her 12 losses were three-setters. ... Topspin, the USTA's summer TV show, airs at 2:30 p.m. Sunday on CBS. It runs every Sunday through Aug. 24, the day before the U.S. Open begins.
LAST WORD: "What's Andy Roddick, five in the world? That's No. 5 on the planet; that's a pretty good effort. But if you're used to No. 1, it's going to have to be more. ... It's a tough generation to follow - myself, Pete, Chang, Courier. There's a lot of titles there." - eight-time Grand Slam champ Andre Agassi's standard for future U.S. stars, none of whom has won a Grand Slam.
- Information from Times wires was used in this report.