Day 5 preview: French upstarts out in force
French upstarts out in force
By Guillaume Baraise
Thursday, May 27, 2004
French tennis fans have been pinching themselves since the very start of
Roland Garros 2004. Proof of the home players’ unprecedented success can
be found in two Franco-French duels Friday. Fabrice Santoro takes on Olivier
Mutis while Michael Llodra faces Julien Jeanpierre in two of the more
unexpected third round encounters. Nicolas Escude is another Frenchman
dreaming of a place in the fourth round. Big guns Guillermo Coria (No3)
and Carlos Moya (No5) will be optimistic about their chances, as will
Amelie Mauresmo (No3) and Lindsay Davenport (No5) in the women’s singles.
Whatever the outcome of the two all-French affairs, home fans can rest
assured that at least two of their heroes will make it into the last 16.
Marathon man Fabrice Santoro faces Roddick slayer Olivier Mutis, while
doubles specialist Michael Llodra meets courageous qualifier Julien
Jeanpierre. Mutis and Santoro are rewarded for their exploits with a
place on Court Philippe Chatrier, and they deserve it. ‘Battling Fab’
has scrapped through two five-setters, against Georgia’s Irakli Labadze
on Wednesday, and against Arnaud Clement in the longest match ever in the
Open era in the first round. Mutis pulled of one of the biggest sensations
so far by disposing of second seed Andy Roddick in five sets on Wednesday
evening.
Nicolas Escude is the other Frenchman in action Friday. After impressive
victories over Wayne Arthurs and Florian Mayer, he can make it three in a
row against Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny.
A serve and volleyer into the second week?
The clay court specialists will be out in force on Friday. Guillermo Coria
(No3) should have too much savvy for Croatia’s Mario Ancic, whose strategy
of all-out attack is more suited to the faster surfaces. Raemon Sluiter is
another who has done well to carry his fast-court game this far, but is
likely to be found out against Carlos Moya (No5). Tommy Robredo (No17)
versus Nicolas Massu (No11), Alex Corretja v Juan Ignacio Chela (No22)
and Tim Henman (No9) against Galo Blanco are all harder to call. The
Brit has his fans here, relieved to see someone take the game to their
opponent, and like Escude he could well serve and volley his way into
the second week .
Less matches jump off the paper in the women’s singles, mainly due to the
defeat of Justine Henin-Hardenne and no less than six other seeds in the
top half of the draw. Amelie Mauresmo (No3) is still there however, and
she must be an overwhelming favorite to reach the final now. Suffering
with a painful back, she was not altogether convincing in her last match
though, and will need to toughen up mentally against Spain’s Arantxa
Parra Santonja.
Qualifier Marissa Irvin has already gone further than expected and is
unlikely to trouble Lindsay Davenport (No5). Nadia Petrova (No8) will
already have the semi finals in the back of her mind. She can repeat
last year’s run to the last four but should not take Germany’s Marlene
Weingartner lightly either. The match of the day in the women’s is
probably an all-Russian affair, as demure Vera Zvonareva (No10) and
fiery Maria Sharapova (No18) go head to head.
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