Fault Call Over Mag's Faux Star

A young tennis star reported to be of unparalleled beauty and possessing a vicious forehand is enjoying a few brief moments in the sun during the U.S. Open - without playing a single point.

She burst on the scene after being profiled in Sports Illustrated by writer Jon Wertheim.

Wertheim wrote about Simonya Popova, a gorgeous 17-year-old junior player from Uzbekistan. She sounds too good to be true, maybe because she's not true.

Popova is a figment of Wertheim's imagination.

"That's the great thing about fiction," he said.

The Women's Tennis Association, however, was not amused.

Spokesman Chris De Maria called the story deceiving and was annoyed at its emphasis on Simonya's sexuality.

To lend some credibility to the story three actual tennis insiders - prominent tennis coach Nick Bolletieri, agent Max Eisenbud and tour pro Corina Morariu - played along and were quoted praising Popova, who was said to have "pulchritude and attitude in equal measure."

"It was misleading and irritating," he said. "There are a lot of great stories out there. We didn't need a fake one."

"They need to relax," Wertheim said of the WTA officials. "They take themselves far too seriously."

But Wertheim dropped hints throughout the piece that Simonya — a send-up of the current film about a computer-created movie star named "Simone" — is a made-up character.

"It was meant in good fun, playful and hopefully creative," he said. "It was not meant as some grand hoax."

Sports Illustrated has dabbled in fiction before. In 1985, George Plimpton wrote about New York Mets pitching prospect Sidd Finch, who had a 168 mph fastball. Like Simonya, no one ever located Finch, least of all the Mets.