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Magnus marches on Third seed weathers rain delays to reach quarters
Posted: Monday June 05, 2000 12:00 AM
PARIS (AP) -- It was a great day for ducks and toads, a miserable day for tennis players and fans at the French Open. Only the most resolute of aficionados, shivering in the 55-degree chill and dreary drizzle, could endure the eight hours it took to produce just two quarterfinalists Monday: No. 3 Magnus Norman and No. 12 Marat Safin. Two other matches were left hanging: Argentina's Franco Squillari leading Morocco's Younes El Aynaoui 6-4, 6-1, 3-3, and Spain's Albert Costa leading Australian Lleyton Hewitt 6-3, 4-4. On a day like this, not a stroke would have been played at Wimbledon or the U.S. Open, where the courts get slippery after just a few drops. But the red clay at Roland Garros soaks up a lot of water, and play slogs on unless the showers get so heavy puddles start forming. That happened once, and play was halted for 2 1/2 hours, causing a crush of fans at the wine and beer tent. The memorable image on a day like this was not any of the players stroking wonderful winners, but of Andrei Medvedev cringing in the rain, flinging his racket to the court in disgust, imploring the fans to jeer him louder. "I was trying to get them booing more so I get more angry, more excited," Medvedev said. "They didn't. For some reason, they stopped. Nothing worked today, to be honest." Indeed, Medvedev couldn't muster any of the magic that carried him to the final a year ago, and he sank in a sopping heap, 6-0, 6-4, 6-2 against Norman. Norman, meanwhile, cavorted like a water sprite, looking ecstatic to be playing anytime, in any conditions. The way he's been playing this year, it's no wonder. The Swede is No. 1 in the ATP Tour rankings race with two titles so far, and at the French he has yet to lose a set, or even play a tiebreaker. "I've been working like crazy for this for a couple of years now," the 24-year-old Norman said. "I'm just trying to enjoy every moment out there, really." Norman goes up next against the 20-year-old Safin, who knocked out the last Frenchman, Cedric Pioline, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, 7-5. "He's like me, he's playing his best tennis for the moment. He's red hot," said Norman, who lost to Safin recently on clay in Barcelona. "If I can get through that one, I think I have a good chance to make the finals." At 6-foot-4, Safin is one of the most imposing players on the tour, possessing all the tools to be a champion -- big serve, superb groundstrokes, patience, and court sense. But the Russian is still young enough to panic in a big match, as he did against Pioline during the second set. "I got scared," Safin admitted. "I didn't know what to do. He started to play better. I couldn't find my game. I couldn't find the way I can beat him. I was standing there. He was pushing me, and sometimes you get this sensation ... you start to think that he's playing much better than you, and you have no chance to beat him." The 2 1/2-hour rain break at 3-2 in the third set, and some advice from coach and former player Andrei Chesnokov, helped Safin regroup. Chesnokov told him his problem was his legs. "If you get scared, of course the legs don't work," Safin said. "I mean, first of all, you have to clear the head, [think] what you have to do, try, try try. "So I start to move a little bit, to be a little bit fit, start to hit a little bit. I try to do something new because it was boom-boom, boom-boom, boom-boom. He started to push me, really. All the time I was three meters behind the line." Safin found his rhythm again, found he could move in on Pioline, take the serves from the baseline, get Pioline moving side-to-side and nick him apart. When Pioline charged now, Safin ripped shots past him, made him pay for his attack. Suddenly, Pioline and the crowd were taken out of the match, and Safin was on his way to his first Grand Slam quarterfinal.
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