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Outdueled Sanchez-Vicario downs Venus with steady clay-court play
Posted: Wednesday June 07, 2000 12:00 AM
PARIS (AP) -- For the first time in more than 30 years, there will be no Americans in the semifinals at the French Open. The U.S. women went 0-for-3 in the quarterfinals today, with third-seeded Monica Seles, fourth-seeded Venus Williams and unseeded Chanda Rubin eliminated. Seles was the last to depart, losing to No. 6 Mary Pierce of France, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Williams lost a seesaw struggle with No. 8 Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, 6-0, 1-6, 6-2. Rubin was beaten by No. 1 Martina Hingis, 6-1, 6-3. Michael Chang, the last of the U.S. men, lost Friday. Until now, at least one American reached the French Open semifinals every year since the open era began in 1968. "It's just one of those things," Seles said. "And for most American players, clay is not their favorite surface." Seles committed 15 unforced errors in the final set against Pierce and had two double faults serving at 3-3. "I just had a terrible lapse," she said. "You really cannot let those mistakes creep in at those times." Pierce belted baseline winners into the corners down the stretch. She has had a sometimes strained relationship with French fans, but she grinned and waved when they responded to her victory with a standing ovation. "They were really great to me, supporting me even after I lost the first set," Pierce said. "I had a great time and played great tennis." Her opponent in the semifinals Thursday will be Hingis, who needs two more victories to claim the only Grand Slam title she has yet to win. In the first men's quarterfinal match, 1997 champion Gustavo Kuerten rallied from a break down in the fourth set to beat 1996 champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov 6-3, 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. Kafelnikov, playing his fourth five-setter of the tournament, faded at the finish of the three-hour match. No. 16-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero won a battle of Spaniards, beating No. 10 Alex Corretja 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. The other women's quarterfinal was also an all-Spanish matchup, with No. 5 Conchita Martinez eliminating 17-year-old qualifier Marta Marrero 7-6 (7-5), 6-1. Williams, reluctant to come to the net, lost trying to match groundstrokes with Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario. The steady Spaniard has won three titles at Roland Garros playing from the baseline, and she dominated a series of long rallies against Williams, who committed 48 unforced errors. The 6-foot-1 Williams is an imposing figure at the net, but she said the slow clay court prevented her from getting there. She made it just 13 times, one less than her opponent. "Even when I'm stepping into a lot of my shots, she was getting them back," Williams said. "When I was coming in, she was lobbing. On a grass court, I think maybe she wouldn't have as much time." Williams was playing in only her third tournament after being sidelined for six months with tendinitis in both wrists. "The level of my game is not anywhere near normal," Williams said. "Each shot I have to think about. Under any normal conditions, I don't have to think about my shots." On another chilly day at Roland Garros, with temperatures in the 50s, Williams had a hard time getting started. She committed 20 errors in the first five games and lost them all. Williams rebounded in the second set but fell behind 3-0 in the third and looked increasingly tired as she lost a succession of long points from the baseline. By the end, Williams was muttering to herself between points. The tournament was her last chance to win a Grand Slam title as a teen-ager. She turns 20 on June 17, nine days before Wimbledon begins. Sanchez-Vicario won the French Open as a 17-year-old in 1989, and again in 1994 and 1998. She'll meet Martinez in the semifinals. In other men's play, unseeded Franco Squillari became the first Argentine to reach the French Open quarterfinals since 1991, beating Younes El Aynaoui 6-4, 6-1, 6-3 in a rain-interrupted match. Squillari will next play unseeded Albert Costa, who became the third Spaniard to reach the men's quarterfinals when he completed a rain-delayed victory over No. 9 Lleyton Hewitt, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.
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