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French Open Notebook
World Cup dreams for runner-up Corretja
Posted: Sunday June 07, 1998 06:26 PM
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Corretja made 39 unforced errors in his loss to Moya in the finals, but did get some kicks in with Pele as a consolation (AP) |
PARIS (AP) -- Alex Corretja did not have much success on the tennis court Sunday, but he hopes his nifty footwork after the men's final of the French Open impressed his national team's coach.
Only days before the start of the World Cup soccer tournament, Corretja showed off his soccer skills as he accepted the runnerup's plate.
After losing to Spanish compatriot Carlos Moya in the final, Corretja knocked around a ball with soccer great Pele. Edson Arantes do Nascimento -- better known as Pele -- was on the court to present the awards to the men's finalists.
Pele also gave Moya and Corretja soccer balls. Moya started heading the ball back and forth with Pele, who then did the same with Corretja -- who also showed off by bouncing the ball off his knees and feet for a while.
Corretja then booted the ball high into the stands.
When asked about his soccer skills, Corretja joked he would like to talk with Spanish coach Javier Clemente.
"Maybe I'm going to ask Clemente if he wants me for the team," Corretja said with a smile. "Because I can see myself doing quite well with the ball."
Birthday girl
A day before her 16th birthday, Nadejda Petrova of Russia gave herself a nice present. Petrova became the French Open girls singles champion Sunday in her first Grand Slam.
But Petrova is in no hurry to follow in the footsteps of other Russian teen sensations such as Anna Kournikova and Marat Safin by moving from the juniors to the professional ranks.
"I think you have to get there step by step, not so fast," she said.
On the boys' side, Fernando Gonzales of Chile became a double champion. Gonzales won the boys' singles and doubles with Jose De Amas of Venezuela.
These are not the first Grand Slam titles for the 17-year-old Gonzales, who won the U.S. Open boys' doubles last year. He also plays Davis Cup for Chile, teaming with Marcelo Rios -- who was the No. 3 seed among the men this year at Roland Garros.
Double the fun
Martina Hingis and Jana Novotna are sticking to a winning combination. The pair won the women's doubles title Sunday at Roland Garros, when they beat Lindsay Davenport and Natasha Zvereva.
Hingis and Novotna, who won 6-1, 7-6 (7-4), are having so much fun they're staying together.
"We said we'd play Wimbledon and probably continue for the rest of the year," Novotna said.
"No reason not to play together if we keep winning like this," Hingis added.
The two got together when Hingis' Australian Open doubles partner, Mirjana Lucic, came down with chicken pox before the start of the French Open. Hingis and Lucic won the Australian Open doubles title, making this the second Grand Slam title in doubles for Hingis this year.
In the men's doubles final, the top-seeded team of Jacco Eltingh and Paul Haarhuis from the Netherlands beat Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor.
Eltingh had teamed with Jonas Bjorkman to win the Australian Open doubles title over the Australian team of Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde.
Haarhuis opted to miss the Australian tournament because his wife was expecting their first child.
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