Navratilova Still Outspoken

On a quixotic return to Grand Slam play, Martina Navratilova sees the changes in tennis and wonders why young players don't seek her help, how Martina Hingis will cope with hostile French fans, and how Steffi Graf deals with life as a "groupie."

Navratilova, who has played only one match at Roland Garros since 1988, got a bit lost as she prepared for Monday's start of the French Open. She happily found the locker rooms more spacious, but noticed enough doors and courts had been moved around recently to make her feel a little disoriented.

"Nobody knows where to go, so I don't feel so ridiculous being in a new environment," she said Sunday.

Win or lose in her venture back for a summer of doubles with Mariaan De Swardt , the 43-year-old Navratilova is still the champion of the candid comment, speaking her mind with a wit and wisdom beyond other players.

On the Andre Agassi-Graf romance: "It's a very unlikely couple. I was as surprised as anybody else. They seem to have a great time together. What I'm surprised at more than anything is the fact that Steffi is like a groupie now. When you are the wife or girlfriend of a player, you end up being like a groupie. I don't know how long I could handle that. I'm surprised she can."

On coaching young players: "I would still like to help some youngster. I have been approached by a player. I'm not going to say who it is. Let's say the parents are a bit of a strong presence. I said, 'I need to deal with the player, not the mother or the father.' That's not a situation that would work for me."

On Hingis and the French crowd: "Hingis would be hard to beat. It will be interesting to see how the public responds to her after last year. I thought they were a little hard on her, particularly prior to her serving underhanded (against Graf in the final). Once she served underhanded all bets were off."

Hingis will find out right away if the French fans have forgiven or forgotten her tempestuous performance last year. She plays the first match Monday on Center Court against Belgium's Sabine Appelmans .

The last match on Center Court may be the best of the first round a serving duel between No. 2 Pete Sampras and Australia's Mark Philippoussis.

"It's just a matter of letting all the pressure go," Sampras said of going fothe one major trophy missing from his collection. "I've just got to go out and play like I do all the other tournaments."

Trouble is, this tournament is played on the thick red clay that requires Sampras to adjust his game from serve-and-volley to setting up points. In his only individual tournament on clay this year, he lost in the second round at Hamburg, Germany.

Navratilova's life away from tennis has been filled with the pursuit of hobbies, sports and a desire to stay close to friends and family. She played for a women's ice hockey team in Aspen, Colo., that won the state championship, which helped her get in shape for this return to tennis.

"Most of the players are mothers," she said. "I think we're the oldest team in the league. We beat the young ones. Story of my life."

She's also been doing some woodworking, playing basketball, snowboarding, skiing, riding a mountain bike, playing golf and qualifying for a license to pilot a single-engine plane.

"I'm very curious," she said. "I know that I don't know enough. I know enough to hold a conversation, to have a good time. I know where to find the good restaurants, but I always did know that.

"I know I'm a better person now than I was five years ago. I'm trying to be a better friend, better family member. Just to be more aware of people and make a difference in the people's lives that are close to me, and be a positive influence for them. Tennis doesn't really allow for that very much. I think I've done some good growing up after I retired."

Part of that growing up, she said, is the result of being less "self-involved" the way tennis players have to be while they are competing.

"It's a very narcissistic sport, a selfish existence, which it has to be in order to achieve the top," she said. "But it's not really great for you as a human being. I'm trying to find that balance between achieving and still being a good person."

Four years since her last match, and 5 1/2 years since she quit playing singles and effectively ended her Hall of Fame career, Navratilova is emphatic that she is not embarking on a real comeback.

"Coming back is when you mean to play full-time," she said. "I'm playing four tournaments."

The first was in Madrid and the last will be Wimbledon unless she happens to win the doubles title for the eighth time to tie Billie Jean King's mark of 20 All-England championships.

"That will be a nice problem to consider," she said. "Gosh, I haven't thought about that. I'm sure I would be tempted to come back next year. Again, like my heart told me not to play singles anymore, I'm sure it will tell me it's the time not ever to step on the doubles court with the pros, with the young ones, only play on the Old Girls circuit, or 35 and over, which I qualified for a long time ago."

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