* Argentinian ‘Galacticos’
* Nalbandian ends Kuerten’s love affair, Hewitt outwitted
* Argentinians’ day
* Nalbandian beats Kuerten at French Open
* Nalbandian downs Kuerten to reach semis
* Nalbandian, Gaudio Advance to French Open Semifinals (Update3)
***************************************************************************
Argentinian ‘Galacticos’
Agence France Press
June 3 2004
Nalbandian ousts Kuerten, Gaudio knocks out Hewitt to reach semis
PARIS: David Nalbandian and Gaston Gaudio joined compatriot Guillermo
Coria in the semifinals of the French Open yesterday to leave
Britain’s Tim Henman standing alone against the three-pronged
Argentinian assault on the Roland Garros title.
Nalbandian, the eighth seed, shattered Gustavo Kuerten’s dream of
becoming only the second man in history to win four French Open
singles crowns with a commanding 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (8/6) win over
the popular Brazilian.
Unseeded Gaudio reached his first ever Grand Slam sem-final by
outclassing Australian 12th seed Lleyton Hewitt, the former Wimbledon
and US Open winner, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.
He will now face Nalbandian on Friday for a place in Sunday’s final,
guaranteeing an Argentinian in the title match-up, while third seeded
Coria, the overwhelming favourite, faces ninth-seed Henman.
Yesterday’s 3hr 07min quarterfinal proved to be just one too many
exertion for the 27-year-old Kuerten, who is still trying to
recapture the sort of form which took him to the 1997, 2001 and 2002
titles here before a hip operation threatened to send his career into
freefall.
But he had his chances squandering four set points in the fourth set
before going down to defeat after a tense tie-break where he had been
just a point away from levelling the tie against the 2002 Wimbledon
runner-up.
The 25-year-old Gaudio had never previously got beyond the last 16 of
any Grand Slam but yesterday he was in devastating form, never
allowing Hewitt to settle on a cold, blustery Philippe Chatrier
court.
“It was my childhood dream to win Roland Garros,” said Gaudio. “I
thought I would be more nervous playing in my first Grand Slam
quarterfinal but that wasn’t the case and it all worked out well.”
Hewitt, who had been bidding to become the first Australian winner
here since Rod Laver in 1969, believes the unheralded Gaudio has a
chance of the title.
“Coria is probably the best player on clay but Gaudio is not far
behind,” said Hewitt.
Coria, the third seed, reached the semifinals on Tuesday with a 7-5,
7-6 (7/3), 6-3 win over Spain’s 1998 winner Carlos Moya and will now
face the unpredictable Henman.
Henman became the first British player to reach the last four here
for 41 years and must beat red-hot favourite Coria if he is to become
the first Briton to make the final since 1937.
Henman, the ninth seed, clinched an easy 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 win over
Argentina’s Juan Ignacio Chela in his quarter-final. Mike Sangster,
back in 1963 was the last British man to get to the last four, and
should Henman overcome the formidable hurdle of hot favourite Coria,
he will be the first Briton in the final since Bunny Austin in 1937.
Fred Perry remains the only British man to have won the French Open
in 1935. Until this year, Henman’s best Grand Slam performances had
all come on grass at Wimbledon where he has been a semi-finalist four
times.
Furthermore, outside of Wimbledon, he had never got beyond the round
of 16 in any of the other three Grand Slam events and had never
survived the third round in Paris before.
But the 29-year-old, who started this tournament coming back from two
sets down in the first round against Cyril Saulnier and saved two
match points in his fourth round win over Michael Llodra,
served-and-volleyed his way into the history books in the Paris gloom
on Tuesday.
Coria’s win was his 47th in his last 49 matches on clay and gives him
the chance to go one better than last year at Roland Garros where he
lost his semifinal to Martin Verkerk of the Netherlands. – AFP
***************************************************************************
Nalbandian ends Kuerten’s love affair, Hewitt outwitted
Reuters
June 3 2004
PARIS, June 2: Gustavo Kuerten’s love affair with Roland Garros
turned sour on Wednesday as the three-time champion was upended in
the quarterfinals by Argentina’s David Nalbandian.
Kuerten has led a charmed life at the French Open since his unlikely
run to the first of his trio of titles in 1997, but his luck deserted
him on centre court as he fell 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6.
The Brazilian’s samba style was silenced. Instead the centre court
pulsed to the tune of the tango. Nalbandian joins compatriots Gaston
Gaudio and Guillermo Coria in the last four – the first time there
have been three Argentine semifinalists at a Grand Slam tournament.
Briton Tim Henman completes the line-up.
“It’s truly unbelievable,” Nalbandian said. Former world number one
Kuerten had never lost to a fellow South American in a grand slam
tournament but Nalbandian proved too solid from the baseline.
“Everybody knows what it means to me to play in this tournament,”
Kuerten said as he left the court. “I had a tough time today. “Today
he made me run a lot and I really suffered.”
In the day’s other quarterfinal, Lleyton Hewitt found that
unflinching determination and bottomless heart were insufficient as
his claycourt failings were exploited by Gaudio.
The resolve on which the Australian has built his career was of
little use against an Argentine master who ran rings round him on
centre court to reach the semifinals 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.
“He was too good,” was Hewitt’s candid analysis. “Today I just lost
to a guy that was too good. “You know, he’s very good at any time,
but especially today he was able to get that ball back extremely
deep, so he didn’t give me a lot of chances to actually attack him
out there today. He’s a class player on this surface.”
For Gaudio, ranked 44th in the world, victory over the former
Wimbledon and US Open champion propelled him into his first Grand
Slam semifinal. “It has always been my dream to win this tournament,”
the 25-year-old said. “But there is a long way to go yet because the
two most difficult matches are yet to come.”
Coria faces Henman in the other semifinal. Coria comfortably saw off
Carlos Moya on Tuesday while Henman became the first British man in
more than 40 years to reach the French Open semifinals.
While Coria is the tournament favourite, Henman is a fast-court
player with four Wimbledon semifinals behind him. He had never
progressed beyond the fourth round of any grand slam tournament
outside of Wimbledon, and had never won more than two matches in any
of his nine previous visits here.
If Tuesday belonged to Henman, Wednesday was Nalbandian’s day. The
22-year-old barely put a foot wrong on a windswept centre court. Try
as Kuerten might, he was unable to repel the sturdy Argentine who
bombarded him with forehand after forehand, punching the ball deeper
and deeper into the corners.
Eventually Kuerten could resist no longer. Having failed to serve out
the fourth set despite holding three set points he allowed himself to
be overhauled in the tie-break to hand the eighth seed victory.
Henman sparkled as Tuesday’s daylight faded with a 6-2, 6-4, 6-4
victory over Argentine claycourter Juan Ignacio Chela. His victory
was as impressive as it was unexpected, coming as it did on his least
favourite surface.
“I’ll settle for that,” Henman smiled. “I think, again as I’ve been
banging on about for some time, it’s about trying to play the right
way. “I really imposed my game from the start and never let him get
into a rhythm. But why stop here? I feel good about my game and I am
feeling in good shape.
I’m ready to come here on Friday and do it all again.” Coria, the
best clay courter so far this year, will be a huge mountain to climb.
The third seed beat Spanish former champion Carlos Moya 7-5, 7-6,
6-3.
Wednesday’s results (prefix number denotes seeding):
MEN’S SINGLES:
QUARTERFINALS: 8-David Nalbandian (Argentina) beat 28-Gustavo Kuerten
(Brazil) 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6); Gaston Gaudio (Argentina) beat
12-Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.
Tuesday’s remaining results:
MEN’S SINGLES:
QUARTERFINALS: 9-Tim Henman (Britain) beat 22-Juan Ignacio Chela
(Argentina) 6-2, 6-4, 6-4; 3-Guillermo Coria (Argentina) beat
5-Carlos Moya (Spain) 7-5, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3. -Reuters
***************************************************************************
Argentinians’ day
Associated Press
June 3 2004
(AP)
3 June 2004
PARIS – Gustavo Kuerten’s bid for a fourth French Open title was
ended yesterday by David Nalbandian, who won 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (6)
to give Argentina three men’s semifinalists.
Kuerten failed to convert four set points in the fourth set,
squandered a 5-2 lead in the tiebreaker and sailed a forehand long on
match point.
The No. 8-seeded Nalbandian’s opponent in the semifinals tomorrow
will be unseeded compatriot Gaston Gaudio, who beat No. 12 Lleyton
Hewitt 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.
No. 3 Guillermo Coria of Argentina will play No. 9 Tim Henman of
Britain in the other semifinal.
Spain had three men’s semifinalists at Roland Garros two years ago.
But Argentina has never before advanced more than two men as far as
the quarterfinals in a Grand Slam event.
“This is like a history event – an unbelievable week,” Gaudio said.
“Maybe an Argentinian guy is going to take the final, and it’s going
to be like a dream.”
Paola Suarez of Argentina is in the women’s final four and will face
Elena Dementieva today.
Playing in the first Grand Slam quarterfinal of his career, the
25-year-old Gaudio rose to the occasion with a nearly flawless
performance.
“I thought I was going to be really nervous,” Gaudio said. “But, in
fact, I was not at all.”
His biggest stumble came in the second game of the final set, when he
slipped and fell chasing a shot and scraped his knee on the clay.
Blood still trickled down his shin after the match, but his strokes
were unaffected.
The baseliner finished with 27 winners and just 19 errors, and he won
20 of 21 points at the net, playing serve-and-volley to close out two
games.
“He was too good,” said Hewitt, who was seeded 12th.
“He’s very confident at the moment, especially on this surface, and
his movements are as good as anyone on this surface.”
***************************************************************************
Nalbandian beats Kuerten at French Open
(Agencies)
China Daily
June 3 2004
Updated: 2004-06-03 09:16
Gustavo Kuerten’s bid for a fourth French Open title ended Wednesday
when David Nalbandian won 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (6) to give Argentina
three men’s semifinalist.
David Nalbandian of Argentina reacts after defeating Gustavo Kuerten
of Brazil in their quarterfinal match of the French Open tennis
tournament at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, Wednesday, June 2,
2004. Nalbandian won 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6. [AP]
Kuerten failed to convert four set points in the final set,
squandered a 5-2 lead in the tiebreaker and sailed a forehand long on
match point.
The No. 8-seeded Nalbandian’s opponent in the semifinals Friday will
be unseeded compatriot Gaston Gaudio, who beat No. 12 Lleyton Hewitt
6-3, 6-2, 6-2. No. 3 Guillermo Coria of Argentina will play No. 9 Tim
Henman of Britain in the other semifinal.
“It’s incredible for Argentina,” Nalbandian said. “For us it’s not
normal. It’s the first time, so it’s something special.”
Spain had three men’s semifinalists at Roland Garros two years ago.
But Argentina has never before advanced more than two men as far as
the quarterfinals in a Grand Slam event.
“This is like a history event — an unbelievable week,” Gaudio said.
“Maybe an Argentinian guy is going to take the final, and it’s going
to be like a dream.”
Gaudio, Nalbandian and Coria all hope to become the first Argentine
to win a major men’s title since Guillermo Vilas won the 1979
Australian Open.
Paola Suarez of Argentina is in the women’s final four and will face
Elena Dementieva on Thursday. The other match will be between 2001
champion Jennifer Capriati, who beat Serena Williams on Tuesday, and
No. 6-seeded Anastasia Myskina, who upset Venus Williams.
Kuerten has been a favorite in Paris since winning the first of his
three Roland Garros titles in 1997, and the Brazilian captivated
French Open fans with this year’s surprising run to the
quarterfinals.
Seeded only 28th and nursing a chronically sore hip, he engaged
Nalbandian in grinding rallies for more than three hours. But Kuerten
was hampered by his hip, requiring treatment from a trainer several
times, and Nalbandian played better on the biggest points.
“He made me run a lot,” Kuerten said. “Today I suffered a lot on the
court. I had a very tough time.”
Kuerten lost his serve three times in the third set, including the
final game. Serving at 4-5, 30-all, he hit a forehand barely long.
The umpire climbed down from his chair to confirm the call in
consultation with a line judge.
On the next point, Kuerten sprinted into the corner to hit a backhand
and slipped and fell. Nalbandian hit a forehand into the open court
to close out the set, and Kuerten limped to his chair, tossing his
racket at it in frustration.
Fans hoping for a Kuerten comeback kept waving Brazilian flags and
singing his nickname: Guga. But he missed repeated chances in the
final set to even the match against Nalbandian.
“By just a little bit it escaped from my hands,” Kuerten said. “He
was able to play pretty well in the right time, and that was probably
the difference.”
Nalbandian erased a set point serving at 3-5, overcame two more in
the next game to break Kuerten, then broke again to reach 6-6.
In the tiebreaker, Kuerten played serve-and-volley — a rare tactic
for him — and put away a shot at the net for a 6-5 lead. But
Nalbandian erased another set point with a forehand winner, and
consecutive errors by Kuerten gave Argentina yet another victory at
Roland Garros.
The crowd gave Nalbandian a warm ovation, then raised the decibel
level when Kuerten took a curtain call.
“The fans were fantastic,” Nalbandian said. “It’s normal that they
rooted for Guga because of what he represents to Paris.”
Playing in the first Grand Slam quarterfinal of his career, the
25-year-old Gaudio rose to the occasion with a nearly flawless
performance.
“I thought I was going to be really nervous,” Gaudio said. “But, in
fact, I was not at all.”
His biggest stumble came in the second game of the final set, when he
slipped and fell chasing a shot and scraped his knee on the clay.
Blood still trickled down his shin after the match, but his strokes
were unaffected. The baseliner finished with 27 winners and just 19
errors, and he won 20 of 21 points at the net, playing
serve-and-volley to close out two games.
“He was too good,” said Hewitt, who was seeded 12th. “He’s very
confident at the moment, especially on this surface, and his
movements are as good as anyone on this surface.”
Gaudio won 11 consecutive points early in the second set to take
control and needed less than two hours to complete the victory. He
improved his career record in major events to 20-20.
***************************************************************************
Nalbandian downs Kuerten to reach semis
The News, PAkistan
June 3 2004
PARIS: Eighth seed David Nalbandian shattered Gustavo Kuerten’s
dreams of winning a fourth French Open title with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-4,
7-6 (8/6) win on Wednesday that made him the third Argentine to make
the semi-finals of the men’s singles.
Nalbandian, Wimbledon runner-up in 2002, will now take on countryman
Gaston Gaudio for a place in the final while third seed Guillermo
Coria will face Britain’s Tim Henman.
The 3-hour quarter-final proved to be just one too many exertion for
the 27-year-old Kuerten. But he had his chances in this match
squandering four set points in the fourth set before going down to
defeat after a tense tiebreak where he had been just a point away
from levelling the tie.
Nalbandian and Kuerten exchanged breaks in the first two games of the
opening set but it was Nalbandian who was to dominate breaking serve
on two more occasions to lead 5-2. He took the set after 39 minutes
with an ace, just as he had wrapped up the three sets he won in his
fourth round victory against Russia’s Marat Safin.
But spurred on by passionate support inside his beloved Philippe
Chatrier court, Kuerten soon found his range and his artillery of
whipped backhands, flat forehands and sweetly-timed drop shots was
enough to level the match after 78 minutes. To his credit, Nalbandian
overcame losing his first service game of the third set to take a 4-1
lead.
Back came Kuerten to level at 4-4 before Nalbandian carved out a set
point in the tenth game when the Brazilian hit a fraction long. A
cross-court forehand, which left Kuerten scrambling, gave the
Argentine the edge again as he took the third set after exactly two
hours. Kuerten again broke in the opening game of the fourth set and
held to lead 2-0 as his confident touch around the court returned,
illustrated when he matched an exquisite Nalbandian drop shot with
one even more subtle to win the opening point of the ninth game. But
the Argentine wasn’t able to capitalise on his hard work handing the
break straight back to Kuerten to lead 6-5 before fighting back to
take the set to a tiebreak.
Kuerten struck first with a fierce, cross-court drive, which left
Nalbandian wrong- footed as the Brazilian took a 5-2 lead before his
opponent rallied to 5-5. Nalbandian saved another set point at 5-6
before he went to match point off a Kuerten netted return and
clinched the tie and a place in the last four when Kuerten hit a
return wide.
***************************************************************************
Nalbandian, Gaudio Advance to French Open Semifinals (Update3)
Bloomberg
June 3 2004
June 2 (Bloomberg) — David Nalbandian became the third Argentine to
reach the semifinals of tennis’s French Open with a four-set victory
over three-time champion Gustavo Kuerten.
The 2002 Wimbledon finalist will face unseeded countryman Gaston
Gaudio, who beat Lleyton Hewitt to advance to his first Grand Slam
semifinal.
Nalbandian, Gaudio and Guillermo Coria, who plays Britain’s Tim
Henman in the last four, are vying to become the first Argentine
since Guillermo Vilas in 1977 to win on the clay courts of Roland
Garros in Paris. Paola Suarez, also of Argentina, is in the women’s
semifinals.
“At this stage of the competition there are no more favorites,”
Nalbandian told France Television. “Anyone can win.”
Nalbandian, who had never been beyond the third round at the second
Grand Slam of the year in two prior visits, reached the quarterfinals
of the Australian Open in January and was a semifinalist at the U.S.
Open in 2003.
After the pair split the opening sets today, the 22-year-old
capitalized on a stumble by his Brazilian opponent at 5-4 to punch a
volley home and take the third set.
Kuerten, seeded 28th, let slip two set points that allowed Nalbandian
to pull level at 5-5 in the fourth set. Nalbandian opened the 11th
game with two double faults and Kuerten converted the second of two
break points to lead 6-5 before he lost his serve to set up a
tiebreak.
Crowd Support
After three hours and six minutes, Nalbandian took the tiebreak 8-6
for a 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 victory. Kuerten, whose preparation was
curtailed by a hip injury, made 68 errors to Nalbandian’s 46.
“The great support from the crowd helped lift me and helped me bear
the pain from my hip, but today I was made to run a lot and I
couldn’t quite make it,” Kuerten, 27, said. “It was still a
fabulous tournament for me.”
Gaudio needed less than two hours to dispose of 12th seed and former
world No. 1 Hewitt 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. The 25-year-old had never advanced
beyond the fourth round at one of the four majors.
Gaudio, who had five-set victories in the first two rounds, is 44th
in the world rankings and won two ATP Tour singles titles in eight
years as a professional. Even though clay is his favorite surface,
his previous best showing in five appearances at Roland Garros was
reaching the fourth round in 2002.
Title Dream
“I thought I’d be really nervous but not at all; everything went
great,” said Gaudio, seeking to become the first unseeded winner
since Kuerten in 1997. “To win the French Open is a childhood dream.
Now I have to believe I can do it.”
Gaudio has now beaten Hewitt, the 2001 U.S. Open winner and 2002
Wimbledon champion, in three of five encounters. Hewitt made 43
unforced errors, while Gaudio made 19.
“He was just too good,” Hewitt said. “Coria is probably the best
on clay right now, but Gaudio’s not far behind.”
While Nalbandian’s match with Gaudio will see a face-off between
baseline players, Friday’s semifinal between ninth seed Henman and
No. 5 Coria pits a serve-volleyer against a clay-court specialist.
Henman, 29, may be the first Briton to reach the French final since
Bunny Austin in 1937 and the first to lift the title since Fred Perry
in 1935. Yannick Noah, in 1983, was the last serve-volley player to
win the French Open.
Coria, 22, reached the semifinals last year and lost one of his last
37 matches on clay. Coria is rated a 1/6 bet to reach the final at
U.K. bookmaker William Hill, with Henman a 7/2 shot. Henman was 100-1
at the start of the competition.
“He is the player to beat in this tournament, the player to beat on
clay,” Henman said. “I am just excited to have the opportunity.”
***************************************************************************