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Clay-court country
Spain puts six in French Open quarterfinals
Posted: Tuesday June 06, 2000 03:42 PM
By Lee Geeker, CNNSI.com
Maybe it should be renamed the Spanish Open. As the second week got under way at Roland Garros, there were three Spaniards among the eight remaining players on both the men's and women's sides. While some of those remaining were expected, there were some young newcomers as well, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Marta Marrero. Following in the red-clay footsteps of so many before them, the two didn't just reach the quarters, but they faced off against veteran compatriots and more than held their own, with Ferrero reaching the semifinals. Most of the Spaniards play with a passion sometimes missing from the game, and they also play tennis the way it was meant to be -- by running your opponent around with a myriad of shots of varying speeds, spins, and depths -- not by pummeling them with a ridiculously hard serve. Some people feel that the variance in surfaces gives unfair advantages to "clay-court specialists" in Paris, but couldn't the Spanish make the same argument about the noted "grass-court specialist" Pete Sampras at Wimbledon? So, instead of moaning about the lack of Americans remaining as the week winds down, just sit back and enjoy watching some high-quality tennis in one of the most beautiful settings in the world, Paris in the springtime.
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| Angry Andrei |
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Andrei Medvedev is generally known as one of the most outspoken players on the ATP Tour, but his comments on Wimbledon were a bit extreme. Andrei's complaints may be justified, but coming in a post-match press conference after he was showered with boos in his loss to Magnus Norman, it sounded more like the whining of a sore loser than legitimate criticism. |
| Revenge of the veterans |
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With the fitness required to grind out matches over two weeks, the French Open would seem to favor younger players, but that was not the case on the women's side this year. Of the four semifinalists, only top seed Martina Hingis is under the age of 25. Between them, Hingis, Mary Pierce, Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, and Conchita Martinez have made 44 appearances at Roland Garros, and reached the semifinals 20 times. |
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| ACE Mary Pierce She's been playing some excellent tennis all year, and hasn't let the pressure of the French fans get to her, reaching the semifinals in Paris. |
| ACE Magnus Norman He keeps hearing the criticism that he isn't the real No.1, but he keeps playing well, and a French Open title might change things. |
| DOUBLE FAULT Andre Agassi Hockey players everywhere are laughing at poor Andre after that awful blister caused his downfall against Karol Kucera. |
| ACE Marat Safin He admitted he was scared against Cedric Pioline in the fourth round, but the young Russian kep fighting and pulled off a huge victory. |
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| "Normally I cry when I lose" |
| Dominique Van Roost, teary-eyed after her victory over No. 2 Lindsay Davenport. |
| "Billets sil vous plais." (Tickets, please.) |
| Cedric Pioline, to two fans who sneaked into Roland Garros by scaling a fence on a practice court where he was hitting. |
| "He's not taking it well." |
| Brad Gilbert, Andre Agassi's coach on the top seed's reaction after losing to Karol Kucera. |
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| She's one of the biggest stars in tennis, and makes millions in endorsements, yet 18-year-old Anna Kournikova has never won a WTA Tour singles title, earning her plenty of criticism. Week at a Glance will follow Anna's performance until she finally breaks through with her first tournament win. |
| 2000 stats: 23-13 record, four semifinal appearances in 13 tournaments |
| Kournikova, seeded 14th at the French Open, won her opening match over Vanessa Webb, but lost in the second round to unseeded Austrian Sylvia Plischke. |
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| This week |
| The French Open continues this week, with quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals. Even with all the upsets, there are still many top players remaining for the second week of play at Roland Garros. |
| ATP Tour - Next week |
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The grass court season begins with tournaments in Halle, Germany and the Queen's Club in London. There are only two weeks of tuneups before Wimbledon begins June 26.
| WTA Tour - Next week |
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The women will also begin playing on grass at the DFS Classic in Birmingham, England, as they also look ahead to Wimbledon. There is also a smaller hardcourt tournament, the Tashkent Open, in Uzbekistan. | | Come back every Tuesday afternoon for a new Tennis Week at a Glance.
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