|
What's next?
With defeat of Rios, Hingis remains only favorite
Posted: Wednesday June 03, 1998 09:51 AM
| |
With a path to the finals seemingly cleared for Rios, he slipped up in the quarterfinal match (AP) |
PARIS (AP) -- The predictable almost never happens at the French Open. So it shouldn't be a surprise that Marcelo Rios, the consensus favorite on the men's side, was ousted in the quarterfinals.
But at least one predictable phenomenon remains on course: the onward march of Martina Hingis, the world's undisputed best woman player.
Hingis defeated Venus Williams on Tuesday with such ease that it put to rest any talk of a great rivalry -- at least for now.
Hingis next faces a newly inspired Monica Seles, a three-time champion here, in one of Thursday's semifinals. No. 2 seed Lindsay Davenport plays two-time champion Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in the other.
On the men's side, Rios, the No. 3 seed from Chile, blew his chance to overtake Pete Sampras as the world's No. 1 player when he lost 6-1, 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 to Carlos Moya.
Rios held that spot for a month earlier this year, and could have reclaimed it with a quarterfinal victory.
Wednesday, 14th-seeded Alex Corretja defeated Filip Dewulf 7-5, 6-4, 6-3 to reach his first Grand Slam semifinal. He became the third Spaniard to reach the men's semifinals, joining Moya and Felix Mantilla.
The fourth semifinalist would be the winner of Wednesday's match between France's Cedric Pioline and Hicham Arazi of Morocco.
With Davenport and Seles advancing, there are two American women in the French Open semifinals for the first time since Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert reached the final four in 1987. But there were none of the hoped-for echoes of Evert and Navratilova when Hingis and Williams took the court for their much anticipated match.
In a swirling wind that hampered both players, Hingis used her deft touch and uncanny court sense to dictate play throughout.
Never in the 6-3, 6-4 victory did the Swiss star appear out of control, off balance or rushed.
Williams, for her part, hurt herself with 38 unforced errors.
"I don't think I was as patient as I should have been. I guess everyone knows I like to hit," Williams said. "I suppose I got a little too excited, really wanted to hit a winner."
Hingis came into the match with a 5-2 career record against the eighth-seeded Williams, but the two 17-year-olds were 2-2 this year.
The match promised to be an intriguing battle between power and smarts. Despite her far greater experience, Hingis actually is 3 1/2 months younger than Williams.
Alex Corretja reached his first Grand Slam semifinal (AP) | |
But, just as in their only previous Grand Slam tournament encounter -- a 6-0, 6-4 win by Hingis in the U.S. Open final last summer -- the match turned into a one-sided affair.
"It's probably good for me to lose so I can really see what I'm doing wrong and really look at myself and say, `Venus, you're not there,'" she said.
Moya, seeded 12th here, is ranked 12th in the world, but has been as high as fifth. He's hoping to crack back into the top 10 this week.
He became the talk of the tennis world at last year's Australian Open -- for both his dashing good looks and his talent. He upset defending champion Boris Becker in the first round, then went straight through to the final, where he lost to Sampras.
But except for that tournament, the 21-year-old Moya had never gone past the second round of any Grand Slam event. And here at Roland Garros, he hadn't gotten past the second round in two previous visits.
Moya was at the top of his all-court game Tuesday.
A crucial moment came in the fourth set at 4-4, 15-15, Rios serving. Moya, leading two sets to one, hit a shot and Rios let it go, thinking the ball had bounced twice on Moya's side. But the referee said it hadn't.
Rios lost the point, the game and his concentration.
"Maybe if I won that game, the match would have been different," he said.
Now Moya is the highest seed left in the tournament, and one of only three seeds left -- all Spaniards, who excel on clay. The others are the No. 14 seed, Alex Corretja, and the No. 15 seed, Felix Mantilla, whom Moya faces in the semis Friday.
Mantilla and Moya are buddies.
"We're going to be friends until Friday," he said. "When we get to the court, I will try to kill him."
The day's action ended on a sour note when Gustavo Kuerten, the defending champion who lost in the second round, was disqualified in doubles for throwing his racket at the chair umpire and hitting a fan in the stands, but apparently not causing injury.
"I'm so sorry for what happened and I regret what I did," the Brazilian said Wednesday in a statement. "I know that this will make me a more mature guy and will make me grow. I want to make it clear that I never had the intention of hurting anyone on or off the court."
Kuerten, who won last year as an unseeded player, is well liked by fans, players and the media. In fact, he won this year's Orange Prize, voted by French tennis writers for the player they like best.
There's also a Lemon Prize, for the player they like least. The winner, two years running, has been Rios.
| 
