Date:06/01/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/01/06/stories/2007010613872100.htm

Sport

Malisse rallies past Santoro

Nandita Sridhar

Chennai: When on top and when still finding reasons to dismantle graphite, it's invariably a Fabrice Santoro smirking on the other side. Xavier Malisse, up 2-0 in the third set found himself running after serial slices, unable to keep his already volatile temper under control. Sometime later, Rafael Nadal had no such problems in his quarterfinal match against Davide Sanguinetti, whose decision to rally with Nadal spoke of a streak of masochism.

Despite Malisse winning 6-4, 4-6, 6-0, Santoro played some of his trademark tennis in the third set. For the neutral tennis lover, Santoro tends to blur scorecards into insignificant data, with his double-handed everything game a delight to watch. In the quarterfinal match, he might have failed to showcase his entire range (his injury might have done its bit), but he did leave the third-seed akimbo on a few occasions, when choosing a drop as a return of serve (and a successful one at that).

There were those moments, however few, that lived up to expectations. Santoro played some deft half-volleys, with Malisse finding his winners as well. Blanking Santoro in the third set, Malisse pounded some of the Frenchman's spinners seemingly out of a certain vengeance. At 34, Santoro's game is no doubt beautiful, but not backed up by sufficient movement.

"I played one of my best games today, I served better that before," said Malisse. The Belgian started off well, breaking the Frenchman in the first game, and running away with the first set, after a exchange of breaks. He lost it a little in the second set after being up 4-1.

Easy outing

It couldn't have gotten easier for Rafael Nadal, who beat Sanguinetti 6-3, 6-2. The 34-year-old's technique takes some getting used to for first-time viewers, with his feet turning adhesives when hitting. Nothing that the Italian did for 59 minutes warranted a spot for himself in the semifinal. He chose to return Nadal's every single shot straight to the Spaniard, possibly unaware of a pair of 34-year-old legs at his disposal. For the thousands who turned up to watch the match, the sight of Sanguinetti playing straight into Nadal's hands, and yet looking animatedly surprised at his lack of success, was comical.

The top-seed started brilliantly, with three aces in his first game, and employing drop-shots to break the monotony of the rallies. He broke the Italian in the sixth game, which was enough for the first set. Sanguinetti's powerless returns gave enough time for Nadal to experiment with his slicing, and the second set had little in it for the Italian. With Nadal leapfrogging to a 4-0 lead, there was little need to look back. "I guess I played my best game today. It was not a difficult match. I played a good forehand, and felt a little bit faster with my movement," said Nadal, who rushed off to practice after the match.

The results: Quarterfinals: Singles: 1-Rafael Nadal (Esp) bt Davide Sanguinetti (Ita) 6-3, 6-2; 3-Xavier Malisse (Bel) bt 6-Fabrice Santoro (Fra) 6-4, 4-6, 6-0; 5-Carlos Moya (Esp) bt Ivo Karlovic 6-4, 7-6(8).

Doubles, semifinal: Xavier Malisse (Bel)- Dick Norman (Bel) bt 1-Leos Friedl (Cze)-Michael Kohlmann (Ger) 6-3, 6-2.

Thursday's results: Singles: Davide Sanguinetti (Ita) bt 8-Nicolas Mahut (Fra) 7-6(6), 3-6, 6-3; Julien Benneteau (Fra) bt Igor Andreev (Rus) 7-6(4), 6-2.

Doubles: 4-Alexander Peya (Aut) & Bjorn Phau (Ger) bt Tomas Cibulec (Cze) & Rainer Schuettler (Ger) 6-1, 6-2; Nadal & Bartolome Salva-Vidal (Esp) bt Sonchat Ratiwatana (Tha) & Srichaphan 3-6, 6-2, 10-7.