Kuerten comes on strong

Former champ may have found his groove at right time

PARIS -- Hard by Court Chatrier on the grounds of Roland Garros, a signboard charts the top 10 seeds in both the men's and women's draws. Scan the men's list and you'll notice one player conspicuous in his absence. It was two years ago that Gustavo Kuerten defended his title here and lifted the trophy for the third time, cementing his place as the best clay-court player in the business. Since then Kuerten, like so many ATP players, has faded in and out of view. Oh, sure, he'll make the occasional late-round cameo, say, in the Indian Wells final. But injuries and apathy have conspired to rob him of both consistency and swagger. He finished 2002 ranked No. 37, failing to make it past the fourth round of a Slam and bailing on Wimbledon altogether. This spring Kuerten came to Paris having lost three of his last five matches -- on clay, his surface of choice.

But both momentum and inertia come fast in tennis -- particularly in the parity-mired men's game. And in the past 72 hours Kuerten has gone from a dangerous player to a genuine contender. On Tuesday his game wavered between subpar and sublime as he outlasted Swiss veteran Marc Rosset. On Thursday he absolutely rolled Hicham Arazi (no slouch of a clay-courter) by a 6-1, 6-0, 6-1 score that, if anything, belied the match's lopsidedness. If this had been Little League, the 18-2 total in games would have mandated the mercy rule. If Arazi hadn't recently shaved his head (rendering him a dead ringer for Ronaldo, of all people), we would call this a Brazilian waxing. "I think that, tactically, I played perfectly on the court," Kuerten allowed.

As Kuerten was flirting with perfection, the rest of the field was taking note. When top seed Lleyton Hewitt, fresh from beating a pesky Nikolay Davydenko, got a peek at Kuerten's scoreline in the players' lounge, he said to one of his plenipotentiaries, "You see what Guga did?" Juan Carlos Ferrero, perhaps the favorite to win the event, went a step further, calling Guga out -- never mind that they're not even in the same quadrant of the draw. "I'm looking forward to playing [Kuerten]," Ferrero said, by which, of course, he means the exact opposite. Kuerten's response was typically subdued: "Whatever he thinks about is up to him. The way I approach it, [I'm looking at] my next match."

In his next match Kuerten will face Gaston Gaudio, who should offer more resistance than Arazi. Gaudio is a serial sleeper who could expunge Guga from the draw. But if Kuerten plays as he did Thursday, the new opponent won't make much difference. With his usual violent torque, Kuerten spent 82 minutes zinging shots that ritually clipped the lines. He pinned Arazi so deep in the court that the Moroccan often looked to be in danger of hitting the Court Lenglen wall with his backswing. He even showed off a nifty touch at the net. "I was inspired and focused on maintaining the same level from beginning to end," he said afterward. "You are motivated because you are happy to be here."

If Kuerten is happy to be here, the tennis world is glad to have him around. When he's inspired and healthy -- and the two often are related -- he is a brilliant player, particularly on these rust-colored granules. And he is an antidote to the shabby but persistent critique that the men's game lacks color. Showing off a new tattoo on his hand of a sun, his earring glistening under the lights, his unruly curls of hair trying to make a jailbreak from under his cap, Kuerten looked less like a tennis player than the surfer dude he is as he sat at the postmatch podium. "It's good to have him back at this level," his coach, Larry Passos, told the sizable contingent of Portuguese-speaking journalists who still chart his every move. "Now it's time to build."

Half volleys

From the No Respect Dept.: No. 8 seed and 2002 Wimbledon finalist David Nalbandian was relegated to Court 8 for his match against Nicolas Coutelot. For perspective, Maria Sanchez Lorenzo vs. Maja Matevzic followed. Nalbandian proved the referee prescient when he lost in five sets. ... Shed a tear for Julien Varlet, who was up 6-1, 6-1, 4-1 and break point against Jarkko Nieminen and managed to lose in five sets. Ouch, bébé. ... Gabby Sabatini was spotted in the players' lounge Wednesday afternoon. ... Feud of the day: Rita Grande and Elena Bovina. Said Grande: "She acts like she's No. 1 in the world." Grande won their match, by the way, in straight sets. ... Corina Morariu's comeback stalled in the second round. In her first Grand Slam since shoulder surgery, she won a match before falling to Paola Suarez 6-1, 6-1. ... Morariu informed reporters that she has split from her husband and former coach, Andrew Turcinovich. ... Still plenty of fallout from Wednesday's gripping match between Ashley Harkleroad and Daniela Hantuchova. Most, unfortunately, pertained not to the drama but to Hantuchova's alleged eating disorder. Said Hantuchova: "I think I am blessed that I can eat whatever I want. ... I just burn more calories than I actually have in my body." ... Hantuchova's British coach, Nigel Sears, was so disgusted with his disciple's body language and play (101 unforced errors? Yikes) that he left midway through the match. ... Unfortunately, the French Tennis Federation is taking a page out of the USTA's price-gouging manual. A program costs eight euros, which is roughly $454. ... According to various sources, the Beaujolais has arrived.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Jon Wertheim is in Paris covering the French Open for the magazine and will file regular reports from Roland Garros. Click here to send a question or comment to his Tennis Mailbag.

 

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