***"Have I seen a single, solitary memorable game of women's tennis? It hurts me to say it. sisters, but I have to confess I have not," Wanda Jamrozik wrote after Sanchez-Vicario and Pierce moved to the finals without dropping a set in the tournament.

"Surely there can be no reason why women's tennis should be inherently less interesting than men's. It's the same game, goddammit." she added.***

MELBOURNE.

Feb I: Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario was diplomatic when asked if it was fair that her

beaten opponent in' the women's singles quarterfinals should get the same play cheque as Jim Courier for his epic loss to Pete Sampras, reports Reuter.

Naoko Sawamatsu of Japan, who won only four games in her straight sets defeat, and the other three quarterfinal losers had each taken home US 47,000. .

Ninth seed Courier had In contrast battled for a marathon four hours for the same money before going down in five sets to the world number one in one of the greatest matches seen at Flinders Park.

More significant was that the women's .quarterfinal matches were played in a halffull Centre Court stadium a sign that something is wrong with the present women's game.

Without injured number one Steffi Graf with Monica Seles still in self-imposed exile after her 1993 stabbing in Germany and with last year's retirement of Martina Navratilova, the Open had not only lost some of the starts but some of the quality as well.

There had been rumblings among the tennis writers and in the crowd in the first week as eventual finalists Sanchez-Vicario and Pierce swept past bemused opponents, dropping a few games here and there.

Come the semifinal and the tennis writer of the national newspaper The Australian had enough.

that the appeal of the women's game had always been that while it lacked the power and speed of the men. it provided the personalities and could also offer grace and great excitement.

But at this year's first Grahd Slam Sanchez-Vicario and the fourth-seeded Pierce had played at a level above the other •women.

The seeds in the Spaniard’s half of the draw had all disappeared by the quarterfinals and the world number two had the unprecedented experience of reaching the finals without playing a seeded opponent.

- The Spaniard tried to argue that the pressure was the same, that her unseeded opponents must have been good to get so far in the tournament, but the results told the story. Sanchez-Vicario

The reason perhaps was

dropped only 23 games In six matches.

Jamrozik did not enjoy the two semifinals and nor. she ■ said, did the crowd. They made such dull vie vying that the spectators chatted much of the play,'' she wrote.

First Conchita Martinez." bhe said, "then Marianne Werdel-Witmeyer. were made to look slow and inept by their superior opponents.

"It was only going to be a matter of time before each was dispatched to the history books. But believe me. that time dragged."

The women's game plainly needs another star like Monica Seles or. even better, a return of the winner of eight Grand Slam titles who disappeared ' from the game after she was stabbed at a Hamburg tournament in April. 1993.

Seles, still only 21. mixed off-court show business with supreme skill and artistry on the court and with Steffi Graf gave the game a genuine high-quality rivalry.

With the date of the injured Grafs return uncertain — she has played only one match In almost five months — women's tennis might now be looking to Pierce and Sanchez-Vicario to Jift the game and win it back somi credibility.

-Expectations that Saturday's final might be the forerunner of something special proved premature with Pierce far too powerful for a strangely out-oftouch Sanchez-Vicario, whose serve let her down badly.

And neither player has the presence of Graf or the sheer magnetism of Seles.

Only Seles handed roses to the crowd before a match, turned up to a post-final news conference waring a bonnet and period costume and had weird haircuts.

The tournament organisers had already attempted to head off a potentially brief and onesided women's semifinal day by beefing it up with a men’s semifinal.

They must be desperately hoping that next year Graf will , be back, that Seles will make a reappearance and that Pierce has added some off-court start quality to her obvious talent on court.