|
French Open Notebook
Racketless, coachless in Paris
Posted: Tuesday June 02, 1998 07:58 PM
| |
Dewulf is the only player in the men's draw to reach the quarterfinals without losing a single set (AP) |
PARIS (AP) -- When the strings popped in the middle of his junior match, Russia's Artem Derepasko found himself on court with only one other racket.
Since the rules do not allow players to leave court, except for bathroom breaks, the chair umpire told Derepasko to ask his coach to bring a few more rackets to court.
But Derepasko said he doesn't have a coach.
"I travel alone, I don't have a coach and my only friend here is Marat Safin," he told the umpire.
Safin -- the upstart Russian who ousted defending champion Gustavo Kuerten -- was otherwise engaged, battling Cedric Pioline on center court for a berth in the quarterfinals.
A ball boy bailed out the young Derepasko with a freshly-strung racket, and he went on to win the match.
Pride of Belgium
The only player in the men's draw to reach the
quarterfinals at the French Open without losing a single set almost
pulled out of the tournament with a sore back before swinging a
racket.
Belgium's Filip Dewulf -- who made the semifinals here last year
-- hurt his lower back on the eve of his first-round match against
Sweden's Magnus Larsson.
Dewulf's strong play here has been all the more surprising given
his record this year of 10 wins and 11 losses.
Chang thanked everyone for everything (AP) | |
He's won five tiebreakers on his route to the quarters, beating
Spain's Francisco Clavet, Marzio Martelli of Italy and Thomas
Enqvist and Larsson of Sweden.
Dewulf, 26, came to Paris with pressure from his national media
to pull off a repeat performance here. He has sparked greater
interest in tennis in Belgium, and led a team that beat France in a
playoff match to reach the main group in Davis Cup play.
Since then, Belgium has beaten a powerful Dutch squad and will
now face the United States in a Davis Cup quarterfinal in July.
Chang's etiquette impresses many
Michael Chang never fails to amaze the
personnel at Roland Garros. This year it's his manners.
Following his loss to Spain's Franciso Clavet, Chang waited for
the ball girls and boys to finish collecting the balls, and then
thanked each one individually for working his match.
"He's the only player who ever thanked us for every ball and
every bottle of water," said Caroline, a head ball girl on center
court.
Pioline the pride of Paris
Hometown hero Cedric Pioline may lack the
charisma of former French Open champion Yannick Noah, but a record
nine million TV viewers in France tuned in Monday for his match
point against Russia's Marat Safin.
Pioline, who's reached the quarterfinals, is the nation's best
shot for the title, which Noah won in 1983.
Noah was the last Frenchman to do so since Marcel Bernard won in
1947.
| 
