Tennis: Agassi hoists skull and crossed rackets

Judging by the shock-horror response to Andre Agassi's previous marketing slogan - "image is everything" - strawberries will turn in their cream at his latest: "Tennis sucks". Sucks, for those unfamiliar with the term, is American slang for stinks .

The world's most popular player is about to launch the message on posters and T-shirts promoting his new line of Nike clothing, just when the sport thought it had scaled a mountain of negative publicity.

Agassi's triumph at the United States Open last September did much to help revive interest.

For his maiden voyage to the Australian Open, which starts here today, he adopts the image of a pirate, having warmed to the role by using the language of a swab during matches in Germany towards the end of last year.

Agassi's latest motif features a skull and crossed rackets. The cropped hairstyle was Nike's idea, a larger ear-ring adorns a lobe, and a bandana will be worn against the sun.

The aim is to emphasise the contrast between Agassi and the conservative world No 1, Pete Sampras, another Nike client, trusting that their rivalry will flourish on the courts.

"Tennis sucks" will no doubt appeal to the Beavis and Butthead generation, though propriety precludes the slogan from being flaunted on the court. The Jolly Roger look will not upset the majority of spectators any more than did the "hot lava" and "hot lime" creations from which Agassi and Nike accumulated numerous pieces of eight in the past. The proviso is that he does not start playing like Long John Silver.

The draw presented Agassi with opening matches against qualifiers. If he successfully negotiates a first-round meeting tomorrow with Grant Stafford, of South Africa, it is possible that the Las Vegan will face a compatriot, Luke Jensen.

Jensen is the doubles specialist who advocates rock'n'roll tennis and that the sport sheds its country club image, dresses in baggy clothes and is accompanied by music and lasers. If his singles game was as vivid as his imagination, Jensen would be a star.

In spite of the preoccupation with Agassi, the tournament offers a wide range of interest, not least a first-round match between Becker and McEnroe. The Becker is Boris, seeded No 3 to meet Agassi in the semi-finals. The McEnroe is Patrick, younger brother of the turbulent genius.

Becker defeated McEnroe II in the semi-finals here in 1991, en route to winning the title. Though the American has achieved little in Grand Slam tournaments since, he arrived in Melbourne in possession of his first tour singles title, the New South WalesOpen.

The women's singles will provide a new champion, though this has less to do with vibrant competition than injuries and retirement. Steffi Graf's absence gives Arantxa Sanchez Vicario an opportunity to add the title to the French and United States championships she holds, and also to supplant the German as the world No 1.

Should the Spaniard succeed, she would become only the fifth woman to rise to the top of the game since computer rankings began, and would join the elite line of Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Graf and Monica Seles.

Among those determined to deny Sanchez Vicario the honour, few will enjoy more popular support than Gabriela Sabatini. One of the sport's great underachievers, in terms of major titles, though certainly not wealth, the Argentinian has been busy remindingus that she is still capable of winning.

Having failed to capture a title for two and a half years, Sabatini has strung together two consecutive triumphs, adding the New South Wales Open yesterday to the Virginia Slims Championship that she won in New York in November.

Sabatini's successes were achieved in finals against the same opponent, the tall, powerful but rather immobile American, Lindsay Davenport. In Sydney yesterday, the Argentinian was guilty of a moment of characteristic uncertainty when she was broken while serving for the match at 5-3 in the second set. She secured victory on her third match point in the next game.

Grand Slams are another matter. The 24-year-old Sabatini has but one to her name, having beaten Graf in the final of the US Open in 1990. The following year, the Wimbledon title was there for the taking, but Sabatini fell to the German in the final aftertwice serving for the match.

The Argentinian's worst experience on a tennis court was at the French Open in 1993. Leading the American, Mary Joe Ferndandez, in the quarter-finals, 6-1, 5-1, 40-30, Sabatini saw five match points disappear and lost the contest. At the time, she could have been forgiven for taking the words out of Agassi's mouth.