Clement, Santoro make history
Clement, Santoro make history
By Georges Homsi
Tuesday, May 25, 2004
Unseeded Frenchman Fabrice Santoro progressed to the second round of the
French Open on Tuesday with a 6-4 6-3 6-7(4) 3-6 16-14 win over compatriot
Arnaud Clement (No32). Above and beyond the name of the bare stats, the
record books will recall that the two men disputed the longest match ever
in the professional era, an epic battle that lasted six hours, 33 minutes,
over two days.
Suzanne Lenglen Court was the stage for an encounter that will live long in
the memory. The match had been interrupted due to fading light at 9.30pm
yesterday evening with the score at 5-5. At that point the two had been on
court for four hours, 38 minutes and Santoro had already been forced to save
a match point. When the two players re-emerged blinking in the bright
sunshine this morning, few could have imagined they would fight on, toe
to toe, for another hour and 54 minutes, in the process breaking the record
for the longest match ever in the Open era.
Both men held serve with impressive regularity this morning, and it was not
until the 23rd game that Santoro earned the first break of the day. Refusing
to lie down and die, Clement replied with a superb game and the two were back
at 12-12.
Double record
Later, at 14-13, it was Clement’s turn to get a second match point, some
20 hours after the one he squandered last night. The man from Aix en Provence
should have won it too, but with the court wide open, he sent the ball into
the net. ‘Battling Fab’ was back in with a chance, and he took it admirably,
storming the net to break for a 15-14 lead.
Would Clement finally give up? Far from it. Three clean winners took him to
0-40. Only then did he crack, hitting three unforced errors to let Santoro
back into the game at deuce. Santoro then went for it on his serve, smashing
down an ace to earn his first match point. A magnificent backhand pass down
the line was then a fitting, glorious way to clinch victory. ‘La Cle’ had
lost for the third time in four appearances at Roland Garros after holding a
match point. The No32 seed left the court to a standing ovation, while
Santoro burst into tears, overcome by joy and nervous exhaustion. The
unfancied outsider had just won the match of his life.
This marathon beats the previous longest match in the Open era, which
stretches back to 1968. That was a McEnroe-Wilander Davis Cup quarter
final that lasted six hours, 22 minutes back in 1982. The longest match
at Roland Garros had previously been the Corretja-Gumy encounter from 1998
which was ‘only’ five hours, 31 minutes long. The Santoro-Clement match
also equals the record for the match with the most games at ‘Roland’ - 71,
the same number as the Agenor-Prinosil dual in 1994 (6-7 6-7 6-3 6-4 14-12 to
the player from Haiti.
--
幾間東倒西歪屋，一個南腔北調人。
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