Who Are You Calling An Old Lady?

One is a pinup. Another is the No. 1-ranked girl next door. The remaining two are proof that sisterhood is powerful. And no one can get enough of them. Leno and Letterman love the Tennis Gang of Four. So do the magazines that have little to do with sports. Anna Kournikova, 17, is among PEOPLE's 50 Most Beautiful People. GQ posed Martina Hingis, 17, on its cover, the first female athlete ever to have the honor. Vogue expounds on the tres chic Venus and Serena Williams, 18 and 16, respectively. When the U.S. Open begins this week, the four will be more ubiquitous than ever. As the tournament gets under way in New York City, Reebok will be roaming Manhattan in projector-equipped trucks beaming Venus Williams' face (complete with braces, beaded hair and brash attitude) onto buildings throughout the city. Says a laughing Venus: "There are gonna be a lot of beads in New York."

Ah, watch out, Venus. There are rivals taking a bead on the four of you.

For all their pizazz and prowess, the four are hardly providing the real action on the tennis court. Instead, they have lit a fire under the tour's veteran players, who for a time last year seemed in danger of being edged out of the game. Emboldened by the bratty antics of their juniors, the "old ladies"--in tennis speak that's ages 22 to 35--are roaring back. And the generational battles have made for what Billie Jean King calls "the greatest time in the history of women's tennis."

While Hingis cleaned up in 1997 (she was the youngest woman to win Wimbledon since 1887), the veterans so far own 1998. Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, 26, and Monica Seles, 24, were the finalists in the French Open in June. Jana Novotna, 29, and Nathalie Tauziat, 30, were the finalists at Wimbledon in July. (Sanchez Vicario and Novotna would triumph.) All four got there by defeating their younger rivals--with not a few fireworks on the way. In the fourth round of the French Open, Sanchez Vicario was on her way toward defeating Serena Williams when the younger player, frustrated by the imminent loss, slammed a ball over the net--aimed directly at her opponent's head. Sanchez Vicario now laughs and says the incident is securely in the past. Then she adds, "I was very, very surprised that when she had an open court she was just trying to hit me--you know? That sometimes shows the personality on and off the court." Of her own age group, Sanchez Vicario says defiantly, "We were here before, and we're still here."

"They'd been coasting for too long," says former tour player and Tennis magazine contributor Andrea Leand of the veterans. "They let their games go." But now, with the challenge from the youngsters, "they're moving into a new standard of play." There is a lot at stake. TV ratings for five of the past six major women's tennis tournaments have equaled or surpassed the men's tournaments. Prize money has more than doubled in the past decade. Attendance, more than 3.5 million last year, is at a new high. Says Bart McGuire, CEO of the Women's Tennis Association: "It's great tennis, but also it's great theater." And it's the theater--and the extracurricular residuals--that can rankle some veterans. Of the teens and their entourage, says Tauziat: "They make more publicity from their image than on their game. I don't think it's good for tennis or for the other players. Everyone needs respect."