TENNIS/French Open: "It's time to play big tennis now. There's no way to get around that at this stage," said Andre Agassi after reaching the quarter-finals of the French Open for the eighth time in his career with a 4-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 victory in Paris yesterday over Paul-Henri Mathieu, a 20-year-old French qualifier.
And he knew only too well that another performance as patchy and lacking in conviction as this one would be sure to stymie his burning desire to win the title for a second time this Sunday.
He next plays Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero, a semi-finalist for the past two years, who defeated Argentina's Gaston Gaudio 6-7, 6-1, 6-7, 6-2, 6-4. "I've never played him but he's certainly made his statement here, and I've a lot of respect for the power of his game on this surface," said Agassi.
And so he should. Ferrero, this year's winner of the Monte Carlo Open, appeared to have lost his chance of the title when he turned his ankle during practice last week, but his recovery appears complete.
Huge claps of thunder had reverberated across Paris just after dawn and an unshaven Agassi entered a half-empty Court Philippe Chatrier as if his sleep had been disturbed. Perhaps it was simply that Mathieu was so much younger, and immediately struck the ball with such power and conviction, but the 32-year-old American suddenly looked his age.
One of the fascinations of watching Agassi in the latter part of his career has been discovering his ability to solve the problems posed by the new generation of big-hitting players. Initially he appeared to be merely biding his time against Mathieu, the boys' champion here two years ago, but try as he might he could make no impact on the Frenchman's serve.
Mathieu's forehand is a mighty weapon, and there were times when he struck his double-fisted backhand with the sweet timing of a Test batsman easing a fast bowler through extra cover.
In an attempt to disrupt Mathieu's rhythm Agassi embarked on a sequence of drop shots. Although at first they merely interrupted the Frenchman's charge to a two-set lead eventually they succeeded in ruining his rhythm.
After a short rain delay Agassi immediately dropped his serve at the start of the third set. Agassi persevered with the drop shot, recognising that the Frenchman was less comfortable running forward than from side to side. But as Agassi pointedly said later: "You can be assured if I'm hitting a lot of drop shots, there's a lot not feeling great out there. A lot has to go awry for me to feel like that's something to try to throw into the equation."
Matters continued to go awry but, after two quite blistering sets of adrenaline-charged tennis, Mathieu hit a downward curve. Agassi saw the gift horse and spent no time examining its mouth.
Mathieu seemed to visibly sag, and the world number four won nine of the next 10 games, claiming both the third set and a 5-0 lead in the fourth. At which point he eased his foot off the pedal, and although he squared the match Mathieu began the fifth set with renewed confidence.
"I shouldn't have allowed that to happen," Agassi admitted. Mathieu, buoyed by home crowd, took a 3-1 lead and had two points for a 4-1 advantage, with Agassi suffering a clutch of double faults. "It had been difficult," he said, "and then it got more difficult. I felt like I was just hanging on."
Better players than Mathieu have failed to nail Agassi in similar situations, and with such a small amount of experience behind him it was hardly surprising that he let slip a golden opportunity. He did not win another game.
Tenth seed Sebastien Grosjean kept the home fires burning with a 6-2, 7-5, 6-3 victory over Belgium's Xavier Malisse to reach the quarter-finals.
Grosjean will next face second seed Marat Safin who beat French wild card Arnaud Di Pasquale 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2.
MEN'S DOUBLES: Quarter-finals: (3) M Bhupathi (Ind) & M Mirnyi (Blr) bt (7) M Damm (Cze) & C Suk (Cze) 4-6 6-4 7-5.
MEN'S SINGLES: Fourth Round: (4) A Agassi (USA) bt PH Mathieu (Fra) 4-6 3-6 6-3 6-3 6-3; (11) J Carlos Ferrero (Spa) bt (31) G Gaudio (Arg) 6-7 (3-7) 6-1 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 6-4; (2) M Safin (Rus) bt A di Pasquale (Fra) 3-6 6-4 6-3 6-2.
