Grosjean flys French flag into quarters; will meet Safin
Georges Homsi
Monday, June 3, 2002

After Andre Agassi came back from a two set deficit
to dominate Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu in five sets
on Court Philippe Chatrier on Monday, the Parisian
public were eager to see its No1 player, Sebastien
Grosjean do better than his young compatriot.

This time though, the Frenchman was the favorite and
he lived up to expectations, sailing past the young
Belgian Xavier Malisse 6-2 7-5 6-3 to enter the
quarterfinal. There he will meet the big Russian
Marat Safin, a four set winner over French wildcard
Arnaud Di Pasquale 3-6 6-4 6-3 6-2.

Struggling with a persistent groin injury that had
hindered his preparations, Grosjean had not played
his best tennis during the first week.

But spurred on by the overwhelming support of the
public, and drawing on his fighting spirit and magical
right arm, he had reached the round of 16.

Grosjean's opponent on Monday, the 21-year-old Belgian,
had matured immensely in the past year, and overcome
his reputation for being a wasted talent. Despite
Grosjean taking their last two matches without dropping
a set, the pair had never met on clay so the Frenchman
had cause to be wary.

Quickly, the Frenchman broke for a 2-0 lead. Playing
consistent tennis and hitting big groundstrokes,
Malisse levelled at 2-2, before being stunned by a
pumped-up Grosjean, who reeled off the next four
games to capture the set.

Malisse picked up his serve and cranked more winners
from the baseline before jumping out to a 5-2 lead in
the second. But the Frenchman fought his way back.
Stepping in closer to the baseline to hit his big
forehands, he took the next five games to surge to a
two-sets-to-love lead.

A break in the third game of the third set gave
Grosjean the decisive advantage. And although Malisse
never stopped fighting, forcing Grosjean to save five
break points for 4-4, Grosjean was always there when
he needed to be.

When Malisse hit a last forehand wide to lose the set
6-3 and the match, the Frenchman exploded in joy.

"Malisse gave me a lot of trouble, but when I won the
second set, I gained a substantial psychological
advantage," Grosjean said. "I felt good on the court.
At stages, I lacked aggressiveness, but overall, I
feel I was solid from start to end," he added.

As Grosjean was wrapping it up on court, his potential
opponents, Arnaud Di Pasquale and Marat Safin were just
beginning their round of 16 match on Court Suzanne
Lenglen.

The last time Di Pasquale had faced a top 10 player
was against Safin in Monte Carlo in April, 2001. The
Frenchman had then scored an easy victory 6-3 6-1
against an injured Safin.

But now the Russian was back healthy, having showed in
the last few weeks that he was also in inspired on the
court. As for Di Pasquale, it was the first time since
his knee surgery last fall that he was able to again
compete with the best players in the world.

Moving extremely well, Di Pasquale showed the spectators
that he could deflect Safin's rhythm, replying extremely
well to his powerful aggression. But after 'Dip', as he's
nicknamed, captured the first set, an angry and determined
Safin came back strongly to win the next three.

The Russian has now completed a full set of quarterfinal
appearances at each of the Grand Slams, achieved
consecutively since 2001 Wimbledon.

He believes his match aginst Grosjean will depend on how
well he starts. "Tough match. French player. Public against
me. The same story like today," said Safin.

"It's very important to start well against him because
he's playing well. He has a lot of confidence now. Central
court. It's going to depend on me, the way I will start.

"If I will start early and make an early break, then I can
dominate the match. If I will start a little bit lazy, he
will make me a break or he will win the first set, I will
be in trouble. So it depends on me."

Now that Grosjean is left as the last French representative
in the men's draw, his quarterfinal match against Safin is
expected to draw huge attention on Wednesday. And even more
than today, the crowd will support their hero.