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Poor preparation Rios reviews latest Grand Slam disappointment
Posted: Tuesday June 01, 1999 01:43 PM
PARIS (Reuters) -- Marcelo Rios said a lack of preseason training had caught up with him as he fell in the French Open quarterfinals for the second year in a row on Tuesday. "I had no time to get ready at the beginning of the year and now I'm paying for it," the ninth-seeded Chilean said after losing in four sets to Slovakia's Dominik Hrbaty. "I'm not physically fit yet," said Rios, who suffered from back trouble in January, made a late start in March and who failed to finish his Monte Carlo final against Gustavo Kuerten in April because of a thigh injury. Rios, still looking for a first Grand Slam victory, said he had not yet decided whether to play at Wimbledon. The Chilean, who missed this year's Australian Open, will next play in Rosmalen, Netherlands, later this month. He said his thigh muscles were tight after his five-set victory over 1994 finalist Alberto Berasategui of Spain in the previous round on Sunday. "But today it was several things together," said Rios, who went down 7-6 6-2 6-7 6-3. "I'm finding it hard to get into a match." Rios complained on Sunday that it was asking players too much to play five-set matches every other day. He came from two sets down to beat Berasategui. But the Chilean said the main reason for his defeat was that Hrbaty had played better. "It was not easy. He served big and hit the ball hard. It's difficult to play against someone who hits that hard and when everything goes right for him," he said. The Slovak's victory was his second in as many matches against Rios after he crushed the Chilean 6-2 6-0 at Key Biscayne in March. "Both times [the meetings] came at a bad moment," Rios said. "But he deserved to win."
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