It certainly didn't constitute a shock, maybe a minor surprise, when world number one Yevgeny Kafelnikov capitulated on Court Central at Roland Garros just 13 minutes short of two hours. Several factors suggested that Slovakia's Dominik Hrbaty could enjoy a profitable morning, not least of which was that he had beaten his Russian adversary in their two previous encounters.
Kafelnikov had been dogged by poor form approaching the French Open, winning just two matches in his last five tournaments and his enforced leisure time during the clay court season of the ATP tour greatly compromised his chances. Then there is his temperament. A creature of mood swings, his tennis fluctuates between sublime and downright awful.
Yesterday the Australian Open champion offered nothing more than glimpses of his prowess. Questions following a Kafelnikov defeat tend to drift towards the mental rather than the physical imperfections. The Russian wasn't about to play the mentally flaky card. "I felt like it wasn't my day. There is nothing much that I can say about the way I played; Dominik played very solidly, he definitely deserved to win."
It was only a matter of time before his inquisitors cut to the chase. "How do you feel, your state of mind?" The former French Open champion (1996) was unequivocal: "Perfect, very perfect, very optimistic." One last stab. "Seriously?" "Yes seriously. You are asking me serious questions, I am giving you serious answers. It's unfortunate that I lost, but that's the way it goes."
When Kafelnikov reflects on this defeat he might dwell on his groundstrokes (46 unforced errors), many of which offered no greater depth than the service box. This allowed Hrbaty to step in and pound the corners, driving his opponent metres behind the baseline and allowing the Slovakian to dictate the ebb and flow of rallies.
It is also salutary to note that Hrbaty could manage no more than a 50 per cent success rate with his first serve and was ironically better placed when he looked to swing the ball with his second. That this failed to register with him almost cost him the third set, his preoccupation with pure pace was profligate. Two sets ahead, Hrbaty broke Kafelnikov in the eighth game, before conceding his own serve with a string of errors.
However as he had for the most of the match, Kafelnikov managed to dig his own grave, serving two double faults, missing a simple backhand and then managing to hit the ball with only the rim on a routine groundstroke to concede his serve and the match.
Holland's Richard Krajecik became the fifth seed to depart prematurely losing tamely to American Vince Spadea, a 24year-old from Chicago 6-1, 6-2, 64. He complained that he found the surface "like playing on ice" but the manner of his defeat suggests that his shortcomings were more far reaching.
Marcelo Rios (9), Tim Henman (7) and Greg Rusedski (13) enjoyed relatively straightforward passages against Frenchman Arnauld Boetsch, Jiri Novak and Richie Fromberg respectively. Andre Agassi (14) was made to work considerably harder by local boy Arnauld Clement before eventually romping home in the fifth set 6-0. Defending champion Spain's Carlos Moya recovered from losing the first set on a tiebreak to win the next three 6-4, 63, 6-1 against the mercurial Petr Korda.
