Argentinian duo Gaston Gaudio and Guillermo Coria, who fought out an epic 2004 men’s final, saw their 2005 Roland Garros dreams come crashing down in the fourth round on Monday.
Fifth-seeded Gaudio, who came back from two sets down and also saved two match points when he clinched the title 12 months ago, saw his defence ended by Spain’s David Ferrer on Court One despite being 4-0 ahead in the final set.
About 20 minutes later, Coria, the sixth seed, was also heading for the exit, knocked out by in-form Russian 12th seed Nikolay Davydenko.
Spanish 20th seed Ferrer pulled off a 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/5), 5-7, 6-4 win and now faces compatriot Rafael Nadal for a place in the semifinals.
”I was 4-0 ahead and I was almost there,” said a dejected Gaudio. ”I just couldn’t get there. He started to play better and after that I was mentally out of it. It’s always disappointing to lose, but this is the worst way to lose.”
It was the fourth time the duo had met this year, but despite having lost their first two encounters of 2005 at Vina del Mar and in Barcelona, it was the 23-year-old Spaniard who went into the match with the edge of having destroyed the Argentinian 6-0, 6-1 on clay at the Rome Masters last month.
Ferrer, who won his only career title in Bucharest three years ago, will be playing in his first career grand-slam quarterfinal, having never got beyond the second round before.
Davydenko, who had never got beyond the third round of any grand slam until January this year when he reached the Australian Open quarterfinals, also came from a set down to beat Coria 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/1), 6-2.
”It’s great for me,” said Davydenko, who started disastrously going 5-0 down in the first set before he got on the board.
The win was also revenge for the Russian, who had lost in straight sets to Coria in the first round in Paris last year.
”I have been playing a little bit better and contest every point. I am not playing the best of my best, but I had to make sure against Coria that I hit a lot of top spin and didn’t give him any power,” added the Russian, who also needed treatment in the match on an injured foot.
Davydenko now takes on either fellow Russian Marat Safin or Spain’s Tommy Robredo for a place in the semifinals.
Nadal sweeps past Grosjean
Spanish teen sensation Rafael Nadal swept past the challenge of French hope Sebastien Grosjean when their rain-delayed French Open fourth-round tie resumed on Monday.
The 18-year-old fourth seed reached the quarterfinals in his debut at the French Open with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-0, 6-3 win and he next takes on Spanish surprise David Ferrer for a place in the semifinals.
The tie had been suspended because of rain late on Sunday with the set scores level 1-1 and Nadal leading 3-0 in the third.
Conditions were still cool when they got back on court on Monday afternoon, but the rain had stopped and it was Nadal who was the quicker out of the blocks, taking three games in a row to move two sets to one up.
There was no sign of the fan fury that erupted at the start of Sunday’s second set when a dubious line-call went against Grosjean, and Nadal was giving them no chance to rally behind their man.
Grosjean did have two break points against the Nadal service in the third game of the fourth set, but a service winner and poor forehand saw the Spaniard hold firm.
Then, at 4-3 for Nadal and Grosjean serving, the Frenchman netted three easy forehands followed by a backhand to gift the Majorcan the break he needed.
Nadal clinched the tie on his second match point when Grosjean slapped a backhand wide.
Henin-Hardenne wins marathon
Maria Sharapova won in 10 minutes on Monday at the French Open. Justine Henin-Hardenne took longer.
Tournament favourite Henin-Hardenne played for three hours and 15 minutes, and overcame two match points for a fourth-round victory over current United States Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-6 (6), 4-6, 7-5.
Henin-Hardenne’s opponent in the quarterfinals on Tuesday will be the second-seeded Sharapova, who swept the final three games to complete a match suspended overnight because of rain. She beat Nuria Llagostera Vives 6-2, 6-3.
Number 29 Ana Ivanovic became the third teenager to reach the women’s quarterfinals. The 17-year-old Serb beat number 22 Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-3 and will next play number seven Nadia Petrova.
The 10th-seeded Henin-Hardenne occasionally grimaced in pain from a back injury that has bothered her for weeks, but she still rallied past Kuznetsova, sweeping the final four games and the last seven points.
Henin-Hardenne, the 2003 champion, won her third three-set match in four rounds. She improved to 24-1 since returning in March from a seven-month layoff because of a blood virus and knee injury, and extended her winning streak to 21 matches, all on clay.
When Henin-Hardenne double-faulted on break point to fall behind 4-3 in the final set, she clutched her back and walked gingerly to the chair. The sixth-seeded Kuznetsova hit three big serves in the next game to hold at love.
But Henin-Hardenne overcame two match points in the next game, both thanks to Kuznetsova errors, and held serve. Three more errors by the Russian in the next game allowed Henin-Hardenne to break and pull even at five-all.
Kuznetsova lost the final two points by misfiring on forehands. She finished with 68 unforced errors, including 10 double-faults.
Sharapova’s match was halted Sunday night because of drizzle with the second set 3-3 and resumed on a 16-degree-Celsius afternoon. She needed 17 points to complete the win, with Llagostera Vives shanking a backhand on match point.
”It’s never easy coming back,” Sharapova said. ”I guess it was good just to have a good night’s sleep.”
Sharapova celebrated her berth in the quarterfinals by smiling and blowing kisses to the sparse crowd on Court Suzanne Lenglen.
The 18-year-old current Wimbledon champion struggled with her serve throughout the match but improved to 31-5 this year.
Sharapova has nine career titles and seeks a breakthrough on clay. She has yet to reach a final on the surface, but likes her chances at Roland Garros.
”I never thought I needed to prove anything to anyone,” Sharapova said. ”I’m getting better and better. If people underestimate me on clay, then they’ll be surprised.”
Top-ranked Lindsay Davenport will play in the quarterfinals for the first time in six years on Tuesday when she faces 2000 champion Mary Pierce of France.
Davenport won in three sets for the fourth time in four matches, beating two-time runner-up Kim Clijsters 1-6, 7-5, 6-3. Davenport, the tournament’s only remaining American, male or female, seeks the lone major title she has yet to win.
”Right now, I’m just ecstatic to be where I am,” she said. — Sapa-AFP, Sapa-AP