Tuesday, August 08, 2000
Olympic misses over for Tarango
By Neil Schmidt
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Jeff Tarango
(Michael E. Keating photo)
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MASON — Jeff Tarango grew up in Los Angeles and was 15 when the 1984 Olympics came to town. A friend from his neighborhood tennis club, Eric Amend, made the U.S. team in tennis. The Olympics became Tarango's obsession.
All of which made the 31-year-old Tarango, one of the ATP Tour's oldest players, one of its happiest — hearing last week of his inclusion on the U.S. team in next month's Olympics.
“It's such an honor to be on the team,” he said. “Tennis is the biggest international sport after soccer, and the Olympics is the biggest event in the world in sports. And this means I'm regarded as one of the best American tennis players and, by extension, one of the best American athletes.”
His was a long, bitter struggle to get there.
In 1988, Tarango was the top-ranked amateur player in the world, and he stayed in college an extra year to retain his amateur status for the Games. Just a few months before the Olympics, the rules were changed to allow professionals to play, and Tarango was shut out.
In 1992 and '96, the U.S. used a subjective selection process which left him out of the Olympics, and he experienced similar frustration with his failure to be invited to play Davis Cup matches. The rules were changed this year so invitations were extended based on world rankings as of June 10, and after one player ahead of him (Jan-Michael Gambill) declined, Tarango got the last spot.
He had geared his tournament schedule to maximize his point-scoring opportunities just to raise his ranking for that date. Tarango is currently No. 81 in the ATP Champions Race.
He begins play here today against qualifier Taylor Dent.
“Now that I've made it, I'm gearing my training totally toward giving my best at the Olympics,” he said. “The matches I play now are just practice to get me ready.”
Tarango is perhaps best remembered for two ugly incidents at Wimbledon — walking off the court in the middle of a third-round match in 1995 and accusing opponent Paul Goldstein of faking an injury in a match this year. Olympic coach Stan Smith said fans shouldn't be short-sighted.
“It can be hard to differentiate those two things, his tennis and his (outbursts),” Smith said. “But he has been a real solid player for a long time and shown how dedicated he is in wanting to play for our country.”
Joining Tarango to represent the U.S. in Olympic singles are Andre Agassi, Todd Martin and Michael Chang. The U.S. doubles team is Alex O'Brien and Jared Palmer.
“We should have some real medal opportunities,” Smith said. “Jeff would have to play well to get a medal, but the first three (singles players) are particularly capable of getting medals. Andre is the defending (Olympic) champ, and Chang has been playing better in recent weeks. We're hoping for a big showing.”
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