Tennis fans won't get to see the sport's latest teen sensation -- 15-year-old Mirjana Lucic of Croatia -- at the French Open this year. Lucic became the first player to win a tournmament in her pro debut, capturing the WTA Tour event in Bol, Croatia, earlier this month as a qualifier. She reached the final this week in Strasbourg -- again as a qualifier before losing 6-2, 7-5 to Steffi Graf.

Lucic asked for a wild card into the French Open. But she was turned down by organisers, who refused to bend the WTA's recent age limit restrictions.Lucic is covered by a rule which says players under 16 are ineligible for Grand Slam tournaments.

Graf, for one, thinks it's unfair to keep Lucic out of the French.``I couldn't believe that she can't play,'' Graf said. ``I was very surprised. I do not agree with it, absolutely not, even if you have that rule.

``She doesn't seem like a 15-year-old. She's well built. She seems very stable. I don't see why she shouldn't be playing here. I was very impressed by her game. She's somebody that has so much potential and talent.''Horsing around: Martina Hingis seems as eager to get back on a horse as she does on the tennis court.

The 16-year-old Swiss star injured her knee falling off a horse last month. She underwent surgery and hasn't played a competitive match since then.Hingis said Sunday that she has been invited by Pierre Durant, a French Olympic gold medalist in show jumping, to go riding next week.

``I said maybe,'' she said. ``It depends if I'm still in this tournament. We'll see.''

Hingis also fell off a horse during the Australian Open, but she was not injured and went on to win her first Grand Slam title.

``There it helped me,'' she said. ``This time it was just bad luck. It was the same fall as in Australia. The horse stands still, I jump by myself.''Hingis said it was frustrating not being able to ride while recuperating from surgery.

``Otherwise I would for sure go on the horse again,'' she said.``It's part of my life. I've always been doing it. I'm still going to ride at other tournaments.''

Stefan's pick: Stefan Edberg, now retired from tennis, picks Chile's rising star Marcelo Rios to win the French Open this year.

``He has the talent to win the whole thing,'' the Swede said.

And his early loss in St. Poelten gave him a whole week to recuperate and relax. He will be fresh at Roland Garros.''

Rios, the No 7 seed, won the Monte Carlo Open this spring and was runner-up at the Italian Open.

Sampras safe?: Pete Sampras could lose his No 1 ranking at the French Open if he isn't careful.

Sampras currently holds a 1,414-point lead over Michael Chang in the ATP tour rankings.

As a semifinalist last year, with 496 points to defend, Sampras would need to lose early in the tournament and Chang would need to win the title and pick up at least 183 bonus points for the lead to change hands.

Return of `The Cat': The cat is back. Miloslav Mecir, nicknamed the `Big Cat' in his playing days for his lazy prowling on the baseline, is back at Roland Garros in his new role as coach and captain of the Slovak Davis Cup team.

A semi-finalist here in 1987, Mecir, who retired early because of chronic back problems, does still feel the urge to pick up a racket, although rather less than in the past.

``I still play tennis,'' he said: ``About five hours... per year!''

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.