Fernch Open Tennis: For the resurrected Gustavo 'Guga' Kuerten, things could not have been better. Like a sculptor with his clay, the heavy balls travelling to him slowly to the back of the court were returned with invention and style. Spain's Feleciano Lopez left the court spinning after the Master class. Johnny Watterson reports from Roland Garros
'Guga's' revival is accelerating and even the French are smiling. The three times winner here is good for business with his authentic brand of understatement and passion.
Beating Roger Federer in the last round indicated that Keurten had at last found his touch on his favourite surface after hip surgery two years ago had threatened to reduce him to an also ran at the age of 25.
"I didn't even expect to be able to play here because of my physical condition," he said. "Every year this tournament makes me go over the limit of what I can do." The injury forced his retirement from a tournament in Barcelona a month ago and he has not played competitively since then. Only a diet of anti inflammatory pills and close attention from his team of specialists, have him in Paris at all. Of all the players still in the draw, his run to the quarterfinals has been the least anticipated and that includes the current winning streak of Tim Henman.
"I am having a lot of problems with my hip," he explained. "I need the trainer to minimise the pain."
Pain management involves spending as little time on court as possible and that too Kuerten has managed to do. Five sets in his opening match against Spain's Nicolas Almagro was followed by straight three set wins over Belgium's Gillies Elseneer, Federer and Lopez.
Again yesterday on Court Philippe Chatrier, there was an exquisite symmetry to Keurten's game. A high tempo of precise ball striking, particularly off the backhand, had Lopez in trouble from the beginning.
Keurten broke in the fifth game of the first set for 4-2, enough for an initial edge, then broke again once in the second for a 7-5 two set lead. Lopez's serve was constantly under pressure by Keurten's returns and eleven times the Brazilian had a chance to break over the three sets. By the third Lopez was beaten, Keurten finishing off 6-4 and exultantly throwing his hands to the air. Each win for him has been a personal triumph.
"The court was slower. The surface was slower than usual. I never found a way in which to impose myself on his game," said Lopez.
"He was playing very deep shots and I never found a way to attack. I don't know if he (Keurten) has the physical condition to withstand five sets at the highest level, but he is playing excellent tennis. If he continues to play like this, he will be one of the candidates for the title."
He will now play Argentina's talented David Nalbandian, who beat Marat Safin 7-5, 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-3. Safin required constant attention from a trainer during the crossovers for his painfully blistered fingers. By the end of the match, he had pulled pieces of pink raw flesh from five or six different points on his fingers and palms. The fact that the 20th seeded Russian lasted the three hours and 24 minutes with disintegrating skin came as some surprise.
He went into the match taped up and walked away with the hands of an extra from the Michael Jackson video 'Thriller.' Couldn't you try a glove like a golfer someone suggested afterwards. "Next life," growled Safin dolefully.
In the lower half of the draw Lleyton Hewitt became the first Australian since Rod Laver and Ken Rosewall in 1969 to reach the quarterfinals at Roland Garros twice in the Open era (1968). Hewitt's armoury of feisty groundwork and strength under big point pressure gave him the advantage over the talented but occasionally frail Xavier Malisse. Hewitt picked him off in three sets 7-5, 6-2, 7-6(6) and now faces Argentina's Gaston Gaudio.
Last year, after Hewitt was beaten by Tommy Robredo, he said that he'd have to bring something else to his game in order to win the French Open title. The question now is does he have it.
"Don't know," he said. "I'm still a long way from winning the title. I play Gaudio with whom I've had some very tough matches in the past. Then again I feel like I feel that I'm probably a little bit stronger out there at the moment."
YESTERDAY'S RESULTS
MEN'S SINGLES: Fourth round: (28) Gustavo Kuerten (Bra) bt (23) Feliciano Lopez (Spa) 6-3 7-5 6-4, Gaston Gaudio (Arg) bt Igor Andreev (Rus) 6-4 7-5 6-3, (12) Lleyton Hewitt (Aus) bt Xavier Malisse (Bel) 7-5 6-2 7-6 (8-6), (8) David Nalbandian (Arg) bt (20) Marat Safin (Rus) 7-5 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-3.
MEN'S DOUBLES: Quarter-finals: (3) Mahesh Bhupathi (Ind) and Max Mirnyi (Blr) bt Karsten Braasch (Ger) and Sargis Sargsian (Arm) 6-3 6-4, (1) Bob Bryan (USA) and Michael Bryan (USA) bt (7) Wayne Black (Zim) and Kevin Ullyett (Zim) 6-7 (6-8) 7-6 (7-3) 7-5.
