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Marching on Ferrero advances to face countryman Corretja
Posted: Monday June 05, 2000 04:31 PM
PARIS (Reuters) -- Juan-Carlos Ferrero neutralized Mark Philippoussis's giant serve and imposed his own cast-iron claycourt game to march into the quarterfinals of the French Open on Sunday. The result never looked to be in doubt as the Spanish 16th seed ran out a 6-2, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, winner on Court Suzanne Lenglen. Willow-thin and with an uncomplicated baseline game reminiscent of the 1970s, Ferrero's guile and consistency proved too much for the powerful Philippoussis, conqueror of second seed Pete Sampras in the first round. Ferrero made clear his intentions from the very first game, breaking the Australian's serve straight off. He raced away with the opening set 6-2 before Philippoussis had settled. The story was similar in the second set as Ferrero, who has a 19-5 record on clay this year, raced into a 4-0 lead. Philippoussis was forced into pushing too hard, and errors flew from his racket. His normally lethal service was mis-firing and by the time he had lost the second set 6-2 he had managed only one ace. A whipped cross-court forehand from the muscle-bound Australian saw him steal the only break of the third set which he went on to win 6-3. But normal service was then resumed and a break in the second game of the fourth set handed Ferrero the advantage. The 21-year-old did not need asking twice and a punched forehand down the line drew a mistake from Philippoussis on match point to hand Ferrero victory. "I just really tried to return his serve and take all the opportunities that were offered to me," Ferrero said. "I had the feeling that on clay, if I'm in good shape against Philippoussis, I would be the favorite. "I think it was a good match... I wouldn't say it was an exceptional one, but it was a good one. "I returned his serves well and that's not easy. He really puts pressure on his opponents. "I am not someone who usually shows his feelings, win or lose, but I can confirm to you I am very happy I won this match. It advances me to the quarterfinals, which is not bad." Ferrero meets compatriot and 10th seed Alex Corretja in the quarterfinals, the player he beat to win his first, and so far only, title in Mallorca last year. "It's going to be a difficult match," Ferrero said. "He's a very solid player and doesn't make many mistakes. "He may be the favorite because he is older and has more experience in Grand Slams but it is going to be very interesting."
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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