Around the World with Mr. Ed (February 3, 2001)
by Ed Toombs



This week Mr Ed travels to Milan to check on the surprising Julien Boutter, Paris to find the unsurprising withdrawal of Serena Williams, and all over the place in search of Davis Cup surprises.


Boutter melts Milan
Aside from more rumours about Marat Safin's late night carousing, a late-blooming Frenchman was the story in Milan this week. 26-year-old Julien Boutter stormed though some pretty strong players ? countrymen Golmard and Santoro, then Gambill and Rusedski ? to reach his career first tour final.

Boutter, a tall, strongly-built player from the eastern French metropolis of Metz, got a late start on the tour, turning pro at age 22. He honed his serve-volley style in the minor leagues until 1998, when he qualified for the French Open and took a set off another countryman, Cédric Pioline, before bowing out in the second round. He reached his first semifinal last fall in Tashkent, and has now gone one better in Milan.

It is perhaps an understatement to note that Julien has an unorthodox entourage. His coach, David Martin, is a former kick-boxing champion. And Boutter spends a lot of time with a trainer who is a specialist in "sophrology, Chinese medicine and hypnosis," according to the French sports daily L'Équipe.

In case you haven't heard of sophrology, well, neither had I. It seems it is a form of therapy similar to hypnosis, inspired by phenomenology, and aims to give meaning to one's existence, discover one's values, and achieve a new level of responsibility and dignity. There you have it.

Safin, struggling on court and allegedly whooping it up excessively off court, might want to give this sophrology thing a try!


Williams fatigue
As we discussed late last year, Richard Williams has publicly threatened to pull his daughters Venus and Serena out of tournaments unless the WTA allows them to receive appearance fees at tour events. We perhaps saw the first salvo in this misguided campaign fired this week.

Serena Williams had been scheduled to play at the Open Gaz de France (or as the French lovingly call the tourney, "Le Gaz"), which will be disputed in Paris next week. However, word came from the tournament organizers that Serena has withdrawn, and according to reports has given "fatigue" as her explanation.

As has often been the case in the past with Williams withdrawals, the pretext given by Serena strains credibility. Serena has played two tournaments this year, losing in the quarterfinals in both (althouh she and sister Venus did win the women's doubles at the Australian Open). Furthermore, she did not play any 2000 tournaments after her win in Tokyo in mid-October.

Serena seems to be a strong young woman, so in light of Richard's comments last year skepticism is justified. It could be that she has a serious anemia that needs attention. Or is it the Williams family wallets that need attending to?


Davis Cup fever!
The first round of Davis Cup begins next week, with World Group action on eight fronts. A quick and dirty preview follows:

Ecuador at Australia (Grass)
The Lapentti brothers surprised England away on grass last year, but it seems a stretch to think they can repeat the exploit against the Australians. All eyes will be on the sweat of Australian Open semifinalist Patrick Rafter. Rafter, now lovingly nicknamed "Pat the Puddle" by the Australian press, has had cramping problems recently, apparently brought on by his prodigious perspiring. Prediction: 5-0 Australia.

Morocco at Brazil (Clay)
An intriguing duel here between the home side, heavily reliant on Guga Kuerten, and a dangerous Moroccan contingent making their debut in the World Group. Arazi, El Aynaoui and Alami are not at all averse to the red dirt. Will we see Alexandre Simoni, a standout in Bogotá last week, get playing time in place of slumping Fernando Meligeni? Prediction: 3-2 Morocco.

Czech Republic at Sweden (Indoor carpet)
The Swedes appear well-positioned to make a run at the cup this year, with Magnus Norman and a resurgent Jonas Björkman leading the way. But Czechs Jiri Novak and Slava Dosedel, are dangerous, unpredictable foes ? recall the major scare they delivered to Agassi and Sampras in Los Angeles last year. Prediction: 4-1 Sweden.

Russia at Slovak Republic (Indoor hard)
Russia may have the top ten players (Marat Safin and Yevgeny Kafelnikov), but the Slovaks match up well against them. This is particularly true of Dominik Hrbaty, who ousted Safin at the Australian Open and who positively adores playing Yevgeny (Hrbaty was won seven of their eight meetings). The second Slovak, Karol Kucera, is a sleeping giant much better than his #75 ranking indicates. Prediction: 4-1 Slovakia.

France at Belgium (Indoor clay)
Given that the singles players will likely be Olivier Rochus and his brother Christophe for Belgium, and Sébastien Grosjean and surprise Melbourne finalist Arnaud Clément for France, we can call this the battle of the shrimps. Clément, at 5' 8", towers over the other three! Watch for the feisty Rochus brothers to put on a spirited battle. Prediction: 3-2 France.

USA at Switzerland (Indoor hard)
Pat McEnroe, in the first tie of his USA captaincy, did not call on his brother John to play doubles as many thought he might. The Swiss squad, since Marc Rosset is still boycotting Davis Cup, is a little thin behind the teenage star Roger Federer. Todd Martin and Jan-Michael Gambill should be enough for the U.S., but barely. Prediction: 3-2 USA.

Romania at Germany (Indoor capet)
With Nicolas Kiefer back on board the Davis Cup train this year to join Tommy Haas, and the excellent doubles talent of David Prinosil in reserve, Germany appears to have too much firepower for Romania, who will be forced to rely heavily on the skilled Andrei Pavel. Prediction: 4-1 Germany.

Spain at the Netherlands (Indoor carpet)
The Dutch are attempting to lay a trap for defending champion Spaniards, as this tie will be on a slick Supreme Court surface that the Spanish squad is sure to hate. The home side might have been favoured with Richard Krajicek in the lineup, but he is injured and unable to compete. The class of Moyá, Ferrero and Corretja should prevail over Schalken, Siemerink and Haarhuis, but there could be some scares. Prediction: 3-2 Spain.


You may read previous Mr. Ed columns by clicking here.

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