The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Gustavo Kuerten moves one step closer to title

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 01, 2004

Sport

Sport - Tennis

Gustavo Kuerten moves one step closer to title

PARIS, MAY 31. With the red clay he loves caked on his shirt and shorts, Gustavo Kuerten moved one round closer to his fourth French Open title Monday.

Kuerten took a hard spill in the final game but was unhurt, and five points later he completed a 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 victory over Feliciano Lopez for a berth in the quarterfinals.

``Look at me,'' Kuerten said, smiling and filthy moments after the match. ``This never happened to me in my life. I'm all dirty.''

No. 12-seeded Lleyton Hewitt reached the Roland Garros quarterfinals for the second time when he beat Xavier Malisse 7-5, 6-2, 7-6 (6).

Dominating with his serve and facing only one break point, Kuerten needed less than two hours to complete the fourth-round victory.

Unseeded Argentine Gaston Gaudio advanced by beating Igor Andreev 6-4, 7-5, 6-3. Andreev upset defending champion Juan Carlos Ferrero in the second round.

Kuerten arrived in Paris seeded just 28th and hampered by a sore right hip that required surgery in 2002. But Roland Garros brings out his best, and he upset top-ranked Roger Federer in straight sets in the third round.

The Brazilian's latest victory was just as efficient. ``I never expected this to happen,'' said Kuerten, fighting back tears. ``I'm very emotional right now.''

He twice requested massage treatment from a trainer but moved well throughout the match, sliding across the clay with his customary grace. One pivotal point sent him from corner to corner and back before he pulled a forehand winner crosscourt, prompting a roar from the centre-court crowd.

Kuerten broke for a 3-1 lead in the first set and stayed ahead the rest of the way, wavering only when he was broken serving for the second set. He quickly recovered to sweep the final eight points of the set.

Four points from victory, Kuerten played serve and volley, fell lunging for a shot and rolled onto his back. He arose covered with clay and towelled off with assistance from a ball boy before resuming play.

Kuerten smacked an ace on the next point, hit another to reach match point and put away a forehand volley to finish off Lopez, a Spaniard seeded 23rd.

As a reflection of Kuerten's steady play, he had more winners than unforced errors — 29 to 26 — and won 80 per cent of his first-serve points.

Kuerten has been a fan favourite at Roland Garros since 1997, when he won the first of his three French Open titles as an unseeded 20-year-old.

``I have some gray hairs,'' said Kuerten, now 27. ``The rest is pretty much the same.''

Gaudio, 25, earned his first Grand Slam quarterfinal berth by converting nine of 11 break-point chances.

Andreev, an unseeded Russian, lost by committing 65 unforced errors.

``Anyways, good tournament,'' he said.

Off day for the women

The women's quarterfinalists had Monday off, including Maria, Elena and Anastasia — who sound like the title of a Dostoyevsky novel but instead are tennis compatriots.

Siberia native Maria Sharapova and Moscow natives Elena Dementieva and Anastasia Myskina advanced with victories on Sunday.

``We're still very young, and we're going to be doing this for many years to come,'' said Sharapova, 17.

Russians have been a growing presence in the WTA Tour rankings for several years. Five are in the top 15, and 10 are in the top 50.

All that's left is for the nation to claim a women's Grand Slam champion, which could happen as soon as Saturday.

The next hurdle will be the quarterfinals on Tuesday. The sixth-seeded Myskina will play No. 4 Venus Williams; No. 9 Dementieva will play No. 3 Amelie Mauresmo; and No. 18 Sharapova will play No. 14 Paola Suarez.

``I'm really happy all of us are in the quarterfinals,'' Myskina said. ``It's great we're not playing against each other.''

The only match not involving a Russian will be the renewal of an all-American rivalry: No. 2 Serena Williams, the 2002 champion, against No. 7 Jennifer Capriati, the 2001 winner.

Bhupathi-Miryni

in semifinals

Third seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi of Belarus scored a clinical 6-3, 6-4 win over Karsten Braasch of Germany and Sargis Sargsian of Armenia to book a berth in the men's doubles semifinals.

The Indo-Belarussian pair was never in trouble as it clinched crucial breaks in the first and second sets to breeze past its unseeded opponents.

The duo now awaits the winner of the match between ninth seeded Argentinian pair of Gaston Etlis and Martin Rodriguez and Belgians Xavier Malisse and Olivier Rochus. — Agencies

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