Теннис

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The Teen Brigade

In rain-delayed fourth round matches, 17-year-old Ana Ivanovic (left) and Maria Sharapova, 18, have defeated Francesca Schiavone and Nuria Llagostera Vives respectively on Monday, advancing to the Roland Garros quarterfinals. Svetlana Kuznetsova, 19, is hoping to fill the last quarterfinal spot as she takes on 2003 champion Justine Henin-Hardenne.

Five berths in the last eight were filled on Sunday before the rain came, with Lindsay Davenport, Mary Pierce, Elena Likhovtseva, Sesil Karatantcheva and Nadia Petrova advancing to Tuesday's quarterfinal round.

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©Sony Ericsson WTA Tour

Paris, France: Of the six Russians in the last 16, Elena Likhovtseva was the first to reach the quarterfinals by defeating compatriot and last year's finalist Elena Dementieva

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©Sony Ericsson WTA Tour

Paris, France: World No.1 Lindsay Davenport during a television after defeating claycourt specialist Kim Clijsters for a spot in the quarterfinals

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Heroic Davenport storms back to upend Clijsters

Sunday, May 29, 2005

Top ranked Lindsay Davenport scored perhaps her biggest win at Roland Garros by coming back from a set and a break down to upend 2003 finalist Kim Clijsters 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 and reach the quarterfinals on Thursday.

In an inspiring performance from the 28-year-old American, Davenport never lost her composure despite being run off the court in the first set and falling behind 1-3 in the second set. Once she got control of her forehand, began to spot her serve better and return deeper, Davenport regained her confidence.

For her part, Clijsters lost all consistency on her serve, cracked her racket on the court a number of times after failing to put in returns of serve and flubbed forehand after forehand.

Clijsters did manage to fight off a set at 5-5 in the second set by booming an ace, but on Davenport's third set point at 6-5, the Belgian erred on an inside out forehand.

Clijsters then essentially collapsed in the third set, double faulting to go down 0-2. She attempted to get Davenport moving again and did mange to break her back to 2-1 when she retrieved a hard forehand, but never again found her consistency.

Clijsters - who ended the contest with 11 double faults - was broke to 4-1 when a charged up Davenport passed her with a backhand down the line. She broke Davenport back again to 4-3, but was broken again to 5-3 when she double faulted again. Davenport then won the match when Clijsters flew a forehand long.

"She's been winning ugly at this tournament," said Davenport's coach, Adam Peterson. "She's showed glimpses of great tennis and sub par tennis, but she's digging deep."

Davenport, who has only reached the semifinals once here, broke a six match-losing streak against Clijsters. She didn't play any European clay court warm-up tournaments coming into the tournament, but arrived in shape and ready to scrape out matches.

"I just have tried every single match to stay in there, regardless of the circumstances, and regardless that it's my least favorite surface," said Davenport, who has won four straight three setters. "No matter what had happened today, I felt like hanging in there is going to help me in the long run, and it helped me out sooner than I thought it would. I feel really proud of myself."

Peterson said that although Davenport's body language can at times be negative, inside she's staying positive. Almost no one gave the slow-moving number one a serious chance coming into the tournament, but Davenport has big enough weapons and the know-how to win anywhere she plays.

"It's fun, whether it looks like it or not. I'm definitely trying my hardest out here," said Davenport, who will play the winner of the match between Mary Pierce and Patty Schnyder. "And with the expectations, I would never set them so high here. I've never been in the finals here or had chances to win. I've been in the semis, but I think it would be a little crazy for me to expect to come in here and win. I expect and hope to play well and see what happens. But this surface, more than any other, I can control the least with my game. But it hasn't deterred me from trying to do the best I can."

Clijsters, who suffered a right knee injury three weeks ago, wouldn't blame the injury for her defeat, but it was clear in the third set that she couldn't push off on her serve or handle wide forehands.

"Tennis can change so quickly," she said. "The frustrating part is that I was controlling the rallies in the first and beginning of the second set. Then all of a sudden, you just lose all the feeling of your strokes. The most frustrating part of it is that I was trying to work, work into my rallies. I have to try to stay positive and work my way through these tougher times."

Bulgarian 15-year-old Sesil Karatantcheva continued her surprising run, knocking off Emmanuelle Gagliardi 7-5, 6-3. Karatantcheva, who won the junior crown here last year, had upset Venus Williams in the third round and will play Russian Elena Likhovtseva, who edged compatriot Elena Dementieva 7-6, 5-7, 7-5.

"I was basically scared to win," Karatantcheva said. "The thought of me being at the quarterfinals in Paris, it was just too scary. I don't think I'm playing as well because I guess the pressure really is getting me. But I really hope that for my quarters I'll be more relaxed."

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Merciless Federer sinks diminished Moya

Sunday, May 29, 2005

Top seed Roger Federer enjoyed a cakewalk on Sunday, barely breaking a sweat to dismiss Spanish No14 seed Carlos Moya and slide into the quarter finals for the second time in his career.

The 23-year-old top seeded Swiss showed no mercy in his 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 dismantling of his 28-year-old opponent, who, because of an ailing right shoulder, opposed little resistance in the 1 hour and forty-two minute contest.

"I noticed straight away he had a problem," Federer said. "He couldn't play 100%. It was very obvious to me. So for me it's very hard to kind of say how well I played. It's not possible just because I knew in how much sort of pain he was and that he was far off from 100%."

"For me it was all about kind of being focused, try not to make many errors and try to use the advantage that he couldn't serve, to break him and kind of get to him mentally," added the Swiss , who has now equalled his best showing here.

In six visits to the claycourt showpiece, Federer has never got beyond the quarter-finals (2001) and lost in the first round three times (1999, 2002 and 2003).

Next up for the genial Swiss is Romanian Victor Hanescu, a surprise five-set winner over Argentina's David Nalbandian earlier on Sunday.

Moya, whose right shoulder has bothered him for weeks, had a dreadful day at the office, unable to defend his chances against the Swiss ace.

Incapable of serving at full pace and deprived of dictating the play with his customary penetrating forehand, Moya was a pale shadow of the player who dazzled the Parisian crowd in 1998 en route to his first and only Grand Slam triumph.

Federer has yet to drop a set in four matches here and got off to a flying start again, breaking the Spaniard two times (second and sixth games) to run away with the first set.

The second set came equally as easily for Federer, who took his opponent's delivery in the third game. He secured the set six games later on his serve to go up two sets to love.

The 15-ranked Moya, making his tenth appearance at the French, boasted a 26-8 record entering the match, but literally disintegrated as the match went on.

The Iberian conceded his serve in the first and third game to fall behind 4-0, attempted a late surge by cutting the lead to 4-3 but was sent packing two games later when the Swiss forced him to miss yet another shot.

In the following days, Moya will undergo treatment on his ailing shoulder and said he will not make the trip at the All-England Club next June if his shoulder isn't fully recovered.

"I have to see how it's going to react the next days," Moya said. "What I know is that I'm going to need to rest a little bit, to recover the shoulder, and if it's not hundred percent, I won't play."

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Unfinished business and leading men Monday

Sunday, May 29, 2005

The rain delay means yet more exciting action Monday. Maria Sharapova and Rafael Nadal will look to conclude, while Justine Henin-Hardenne will have been glad of the extra day off before taking on Svetlana Kuznetsova. Among the men, a bunch of serious contenders for the title, including Gaston Gaudio, Guillermo Coria and Marat Safin will be battling it out for a place in the last eight. Read on for a (p)review of the matches still to be finished, and still to come Monday.

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Rafael Nadal (4) leads Sébastien Grosjean (23) 6-4, 3-6, 3-0

French fury was much in evidence amidst the gloom of centre court in Rafael Nadal's rain-interrupted match with 23 seed Sébastien Grosjean. After Nadal had gunned his way to a first set lead, the Spaniard proceeded to break Grosjean in the opening game of the second. Grosjean contested the line call on game-winning point, and the match was interrupted for a full five minutes as the crowd howled its disapproval at the umpire's refusal to check the mark. Nadal kept his cool, but the incident proved a turning point as a pumped-up Grosjean, roared on by an even more pumped-up centre court, began threading winners and forcing his young opponent back. Suddenly the home hope was on the offensive, and he won four straight games to grab the second set 6-3.

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Any other 18-year-old might have folded in the face of the Marseille man's inspired tennis. Another foreign debutant may have hidden from the baying crowd. Not Nadal. This kid is consumed by self-belief, and out he came in the third to wrest the game from Grosjean's grasp. With the rain falling, and the light fading, "Rafa" found his range again and pummeled his way into a three game lead before a probably relieved umpire called time on proceedings.

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Maria Sharapova (2) leads Nuria Llagostera Vives 6-2, 3-3

Number two seed Maria Sharapova seemed well on her way to the quarter-finals Sunday night when rain halted play on Court Suzanne Lenglen. Last year's Wimbledon champion took the first set off Spain's Nuria Llagostera Vives 6-2 thanks to six winners and strong net play. She did lose serve early in the second, but was back on course at 3-3 when the rain came.

With a win, Sharapova would equal her best showing at Roland Garros and earn a meeting with the winner of Justine Henin-Hardenne and Svetlana Kuznetsova.

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Guillermo Coria ( - Nikolay Davydenko (12)

Form guide>

Just by getting past the first round here, Nikolay Davydenko broke the mould. He became the first winner of the prestigious Sankt-Pölten tournament to reach the second round of the French in six years. Davydenko has won a clay court tournament prior to the French in each of the past three seasons and has been in fine fettle so far this year.

Guillermo Coria is a hot favourite for the crown, having reached the semis here in 2003 and the final last year. The next step up is the title, but the Argentinean has not been in the same rich vein of clay court form as in recent years. A right shoulder injury has hampered him and as a result he has not won a major tournament since Monte-Carlo in April 2004. He will need to overturn another statistical anomaly if he is to become champion too, as the no No8 seed has never won the French Open.

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Tactical guide>

Coria is the consummate clay court player. Able to run all day, and all night if needs be, he preys on his opponent's mistakes like a hungry hyena. Russian Nikolay Davydenko will need to cut down his unforced errors to an absolute minimum then, all the while keeping the ball long to avoid the Argentinean seizing the initiative in the long drawn-out rallies. The Australian Open quarter-finalist should draw on his Melbourne experience and play with the carefree abandon of the underdog if he is to prevail.

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Head-to-heads

>Guillermo Coria has won each of the three matches the pair has played up this point. Davydenko will be hoping for a happier outcome than the 6-4, 6-2, 6-0 drubbing he received at the French Open last year.

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Marat Safin (3) - Tommy Robredo (15)>

Form guide

>Marat Safin actually won fewer points than Juan Carlos Ferrero (142 to 145) in their third round match, but such was his tactical acumen, he won the right points at the right time to win in four sets. That match was a beauty, and this should be too. The impulsive Russian will take great heart from such a perfectly judged performance against a real tough cookie in Ferrero.

Beaten in the quarter-final in 2003 and in round four in 2001 and 2004, Tommy Robredo just can't seem to break through the barrier of the final rounds in Grand Slams. Now 23, he needs to find the technical, physical and mental resources to raise his game at vital junctures. This is a vital juncture if ever there was one, and he must build on his excellent performances in the first three rounds if he is to worry Safin.

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Tactical guide>

Both players are among the most naturally talented on the circuit. On his day, Safin is capable of beating anyone, including Federer on his way to the Australian Open title earlier this year The Russian tends to blow hot and cold though, and Tommy Robredo will hope to catch him on an off day, and let his own gifted strokeplay do the rest. The Spaniard is not your typical clay court grafter from across the Pyrenees. More of a power player, he likes to get to the net, and also possesses one of the sweetest backhands on the tour.

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Head-to-heads>

Robredo and Safin have met six times since 1999 and the Russian is up 4-2 overall and 3-1 on clay. Matches between the two are usually exciting, and very tight. The last two have gone to a third set tie-break, the latest being at the quarter-final stage in Estoril when Safin won 7-6(2), 2-6, 7-6(5).

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Pierce keeps French hopes alive

Sunday, May 29, 2005

One day after Amelie Mauresmo's early exit and less than an hour after Paul-Henri Mathieu came up short in five sets, Mary Pierce gave the people of Paris something to cheer about Sunday with a 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 victory over eighth-seeded Patty Schnyder.

Pierce and Sebastien Grosjean, whose match against Rafael Nadal Sunday night was postponed by rain, are the only French representatives left at Roland Garros.

"I always play my best tennis here," said Pierce. "I like big challenges. I like the crowd. There's something special about playing in Paris."

The 2000 champion broke Schnyder to take control of the decisive set, but the Swiss would not go down quietly, delaying any Parisian celebration. She sidestepped a break point at 1-3 and then fought off nine match points over consecutive games to pull to 4-5. After avoiding another match point, Schnyder finally bowed out as Pierce's forehand winner sailed past her backhand.

"I just went for it, like every other point. I don't have any regrets on the ones that I lost," Pierce said about those dicey final games. "Definitely it would have been a tough match to lose after having so many match points."

"But, gosh, all credit to Patty. She never gave up. She always kept putting the ball back. She made me play. Made me win it."

This is a disappointing exit for sure for Schnyder, 25, who had reached at least the quarter-finals in her four previous clay court events, including a runner-up finish in Rome. A run that put her back in the Top 10 for the first time in six years.

In the quarter-finals, Pierce gets top-seeded Lindsay Davenport, who continued her amazing run in Paris Sunday morning with another comeback victory. Down a set and 3-1 to Kim Clijsters, who had beaten the American six straight times, Davenport stormed back to win 6-3 in the third. All four of her matches in this French Open have now followed the same pattern.

"Mary…is going to be trying to take it to me by who can get the bigger shot off first, hard serves, going for winners, having the crowd behind her," said the world number-one about Tuesday's affair.

Davenport owns an 8-2 mark (2-1 clay) against Pierce, but they have not met since 1999.

"I really like her a lot off the court," Pierce said. "She's No. 1 in the world, No. 1 seed.

"On paper I shouldn't win. On paper I shouldn't have won the last two matches. But I'm playing my favorite tournament. It's definitely better to play her on clay than on grass."