Gimme three sets

Costa doesn't need five to oust Frenchman Clement

PARIS, June 2 (Reuters) -- Defending French Open champion Albert Costa of Spain muscled aside home favorite Arnaud Clement 6-2, 7-5, 7-5 on Monday to take his place in the quarterfinals at Roland Garros.

The 27-year-old Catalan had been taken to five sets in each of the previous three rounds but hit top gear against world No. 36 Clement, who failed to respond to the backing of the Parisian crowd on centre court.

Costa, seeded ninth, faces a last-eight showdown with compatriot Tommy Robredo of Spain, who shocked three-time former champion Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil on Monday.

"I feel great now," Costa said. "Today is the first day that it was three sets but I don't feel tired. This match gives me confidence because I played much better tennis and also I played less time.

"Today I found my serve. I don't know why. At the right moments I served pretty good."

The Spaniard, whose form has been decidedly patchy this year, raced through the first set, battering Clement with a series of bludgeoned winners.

The bearded Frenchman feebly surrendered his serve at 5-5 in the second set to go two down. It was only when trailing 4-2 in the third that he briefly stirred the crowd.

Helped by an overrule from the chair, he broke back for 4-4. But Costa kept his cool and restored order with a savage backhand cross-court winner to break for 6-5 before sealing his win on serve.

Clement's defeat extended his poor record in Grand Slam last-16 matches and admitted that he had been unable to match the brute force of his Spanish opponent.

"I have made it to the last 16 nine times but I have lost seven times. It's a ridiculous statistic," said the 2001 Australian Open finalist.

"I can play better. Apart from the very end of the match when, at times, I felt more relaxed, I was only average when serving and attacking. I wasn't strong enough. I didn't play strongly enough with my body.

"I wasn't very good, but his quality of game was excellent."

 

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