Jana Novotna

Reading time, two minutes:Tomorrow's the day. The pulse quickens and the country awaits Dave Stockton's selections for the U.S. team that will take on the Europeans in the Ryder Cup matches in Florida next month. Normally, the announcement of the squad, 10 men determined by point standings and the two wild-card picks by the captain (Stockton), would be met with yawns. No more.These days, the process resembles a scaled-down baseball all-star game election for the simple reason the boys from across the pond have held the cup for the last six years and, better yet, there's controversy concerning the last two spots on the team.

WIMBLEDON, England -- Pam Shriver and Martina Navratilova, reunited as a Grand Slam doubles team for the first time in two years, fell one step short of reaching the Wimbledon women's final yesterday.After defeating Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and Helena Sukova, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) in a rain-delayed quarterfinal, Shriver and Navratilova had to play a semifinal match. But the team that has shared 20 Grand Slam victories was beaten by Larisa Savchenko and Natalia Zvereva, 2-6, 6-2, 6-4.Savchenko and Zvereva will meet Gigi Fernandez and Jana Novotna in the final.

NOTTINGHAM, England -- Mary Joe Fernandez outlasted Jana Novotna, 6-4, 0-6, 9-7, in an error-dominated match yesterday to lead the United States into the final of the Federation Cup.The U.S. team will meet top-seeded Spain today.Fernandez's victory and Jennifer Capriati's earlier 6-3, 6-1 defeat of Radka Zrubakova clinched victory for the U.S. team in its best-of-three semifinal with Czechoslovakia.Zina Garrison and Gigi Fernandez then completed a 3-0 sweep with a 6-2, 6-3 defeat of Eva Sviglerova and Regina Rajchrtova in doubles.

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. -- Not to be outdone by the U.S. Davis Cup Dream Team of top-ranked Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi, Billie Jean King was hoping to drop a bombshell of her own today by announcing the Federation Cup team that will face the Netherlands next month.Encouraged by Monica Seles' apparent interest in playing in the Olympics in 1996, King, the team captain, said she intended to speak with Seles last night about her availability for this year's Fed Cup matches. King, speaking during the Lipton Championships, also planned to recruit Jennifer Capriati, the 1992 Olympic gold medalist.

WIMBLEDON, England -- For the most famous piece of real estate in tennis, Centre Court at Wimbledon is looking pretty lousy right now.A large area of grass in front of the baseline has been carved up, and the court is littered with bare spots. And the court must still absorb plenty of punishment leading to Sunday's men's final.Three-time champion Pete Sampras said yesterday that some patches of the court were "like cement," and he added he had "never seen Centre Court so chopped up."Jana Novotna, a former women's finalist, said: "There is a path [where]

NEW YORK -- On the third night of the Virginia Slims Championships at Madison Square Garden last night, top-seeded Monica Seles provided a fleeting glimpse of her powerful game, rushing past overmatched Julie Halard of France, 6-1, 6-0, in 37 minutes.The tennis fans had a much longer look at Jennifer Capriati. In a sloppy but eventually interesting performance, Capriati, 15, ousted Nathalie Tauziat, 5-7, 6-0, 7-6 (7-4), in a 1-hour, 53-minute marathon to complete the opening round of this 16-player, season-ending tournament.

NEW YORK -- Never say never in doubles.Down a set, down 2-5 in the second set, Jim Grabb and Richey Reneberg were about to pack it in during the men's doubles final at the U.S. Open.But a strange thing happened on their way to a second consecutive Grand Slam final loss. Grabb and Reneberg rallied and won, defeating Kelly Jones and Rick Leach, 3-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-3, 6-3."It was bizarre," Grabb said. "I was playing about as bad as possible. And then we just came back."The victory was particularly satisfying since Grabb and Reneberg were runners-up at Wimbledon, losing the fifth-set final to Michael Stich and John McEnroe, 19-17.

NEW YORK -- The Women's Tennis Council has agreed in principle to the major recommendations of the Age Eligibility Commission that would prevent young players from competing in a full, unrestricted professional tour until age 18 and prevent any participation on the WTA Tour and at championship events until age 16."Until a kid is 16, she's not going to be in the big time," said Baltimore's Elise Burgin, who with Pam Shriver represents the tour players on the council. "The show will go on without them."

WIMBLEDON, England -- Pam Shriver turned 30 yesterday but wasn't celebrating because she and Martina Navratilova lost in the Wimbledon doubles semifinals."

WIMBLEDON, England -- For Jana Novotna, the losses hang out there, unmentioned but unforgettable.Nobody brings up Wimbledon 1993, when Novotna handed the title to Steffi Graf and wept on the Duchess of Kent's shoulder. And Wimbledon 1997 is simply a distant memory, when Novotna faded in the third set and let a smiling kid named Martina Hingis steal the title.This year, Novotna is trying to build a new resume, and trying to write some tennis history.With yesterday's 6-2, 6-3 victory over Irina Spirlea, Novotna advanced to today's most enticing quarterfinal match of the tournament, a meeting with No. 7 Venus Williams.