Infiniti Open Is Counting on Connors

Some of the most interesting stories this week at the Infiniti Open men’s tournament, which begins today at UCLA’s Los Angeles Tennis Center, might be about the current marquee players who aren’t playing and the idols from yesteryear who are.

Despite some confusing advertisements, which may have led some to believe otherwise, top-ranked Andre Agassi will not play in the tournament, but will appear at a charity event tonight at the tennis center.

Tournament officials said Agassi, who advanced to the quarterfinals last year, could not fit the tournament into his schedule. Likewise, No. 5-ranked Michael Chang, who appeared in seven out of the past eight tournaments here, also is skipping it.

Jimmy Connors, the eight-time Grand Slam winner who recently has been dominating the Champions Tour for players 35 and over, is expected to be one of the tournament’s highlights. Connors, 42, has won the Los Angeles tournament four times, most recently in 1984.

Connors plays a first-round match against Italy’s Cristiano Caratti on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. Connors also will play doubles with Jim Courier against Andrew Florent and Paul Kilderry of Australia on Wednesday night.

“It should be a fun match for both of us to play,” Courier said. “There’s certainly not too much pressure on us to do real well. Hopefully we will, but it should be just a fun experience.”

Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia, ranked No. 7, is the top-seeded player in the 32-man singles draw, followed by Michael Stich of Germany, Courier and Richard Krajicek of The Netherlands, who won the tournament in 1992 and 1993.

The event features some of the tour’s best servers. Ivanisevic and Greg Rusedski of Great Britain were the leading servers in 1994, when they both recorded serves of 136 m.p.h. Krajicek ranked third in serve speed in 1994, topping out at 134 m.p.h., and Stich ranked sixth at 133.