Monday, Apr 15, 2002
Monday, Apr 15, 2002 |
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Tennis
Heading the growing list of absentees is defending champion and triple French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten, who is still some way off top fitness as he recovers from hip surgery. Kuerten said a week ago that he still harbours faint hopes of making Roland Garros ``although I haven't laid that down as a precise objective'' — but the 25-year-old's absence from the 2.45-million-dollar event is compounded by further withdrawals by Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras. News that both the US crowd pullers are skipping the event — Agassi cited lack of proper preparation while Sampras has not said why he has withdrawn — is a major blow to organisers who have additionally lost injured Briton Greg Rusedski and off-form Dutchman Richard Krajicek. But their loss is the gain of those who have received late invites to the action, including Argentina's Guillermo Coria, who made the semis last year but was later suspended after testing positive for banned steroid nandrolone. Home support will latch on to veteran Cedric Pioline, who won here in 2000, while the lesser-known Mickael Llodra has also come to local attention for his role in the French side which ousted the Czech Republic in the Davis Cup earlier this month. Llodra won his doubles tie alongside Fabrice Santoro to help clinch a 3-2 success in their World Group quarterfinal encounter. Italy's Davide Sanguinetti also gets a wild card invitation. Sampras will doubtless not be too disappointed at postponing his annual claycourt torture — although clearly the indication is that he must now bury any lingering hopes he retained of ever winning the French Open. That title would have completed his Grand Slam collection and would have surely ended the argument of who deserves the title of best player ever in the men's game. Sampras holds the overall record of 13 Grand Slam titles but Agassi, who had hoped to build on his Key Biscayne triumph, leads him on one major count having become only the fifth man in history to win all four Slams — and the only one on different surfaces. But the peculiar nature of claycourt tennis suggests that it is Kuerten's no-show which could well be the most significant as it means the title of ``King of Clay'' is once again up for grabs. On fitness and form the Brazilian can seem untouchable — but with his French Open preparations shot to pieces the way could now be open for a pretender with Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero foremost among them. However, the ``Mosquito'' has lost some of his sting recently and he suffered a new setback last week in Estoril, Portugal, when as top seed he lost in the second round in three sets to unheralded Argentine David Nalbandian. The 22-year-old from Onteniente starts against compatriot Albert Portas — surprise winner in the Hamburg Masters Series last year where he defeated Ferrero in a marathon final. Ferrero has also had to battle a stress fracture of the foot and has been scrambling for fitness in the past few days in Valencia. That battle could be a boon to Portas, who along with last year's finalist Hicham Arazi of Morocco comprise two of the main clay specialist hopefuls in this reduced field. But they will all have to get past Australian Lleyton Hewitt, who returns to the fray as top seed with a match against former French Open champion Carlos Moya, champion here four seasons ago. Hewitt is bidding for a return to winning ways having lost out to Roger Federer of Switzerland in the Key Biscayne semis, that loss ending a 15-match winning streak which had brought the Adelaider titles in San Jose and Indian Wells. Moya spurned his chance of a win at Estoril with a semifinal loss against up-and-coming Argentine David Nalbandian. — AFP
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