French wildcards give new hope to fans
Nyree Epplett
Saturday, June 1, 2002

French sports fans have had a tough week.

On Friday they watched their national soccer team -
favorite to take the World Cup title - fall victim to
a sensational upset by Senegal in the first game.
Ouch. That must have hurt.

Then a few hours later the nation cringed when another
of their own, the charismatic Arnaud Clement, fought
back from a two set deficit only to let slip four match
points against Alex Corretja. Clement crashed 8-6 in the
fifth on Court Philippe Chatrier.

Earlier on in the week, they lost cult heroes Fabrice
Santoro and Cedric Pioline from the men's draw.

Who would blame them for thinking that this may be a
lean year for the Frenchman at Roland Garros?

Thank heavens then for unheralded wildcards Paul-Henri
Mathieu and Arnaud Di Pasquale, whose surprise third
round victories on Saturday have lifted the spirits of
the Parisians, ensuring they will have plenty to cheer
about in the second week.

20-year-old Mathieu - the junior boys winner here in
2000 - upset No14 seed Jiri Novak in straight sets 6-4
6-4 6-3 on Court Suzanne Lenglen, while the journeyman
Di Pasquale completed an inspiring career resurgence by
triumphing over Thailand's Paradorn Srichaphan 6-4 6-3
6-3.

They are the first French wildcards to reach the round of
16 here since Henri Leconte ten years ago. As a bonus,
Mathieu and Di Pasquale have ensured that their higher
profile compatriot Sebastien Grosjean - who beat American
Vincent Spadea late Saturday - does not carry the weight
of national expectation into the fourth round alone.

The young Mathieu, ranked No101, is riding on the wave of
a breakthrough year. He reached his first quarterfinal as
a qualifier on clay at Casablanca in April.

This tournament he's strung together three victories over
substantially higher-ranked opponents - No30 Wayne
Ferreira, No23 Fabrice Santoro and then Novak, the 2002
Australian open semifinalist. Next up the Frenchman will
meet '99 champ and No4 seed Andre Agassi, most probably on
Court Centrale, where anything is possible.

Di Pasquale's story is a stirring one. The 23-year-old
has this year been forced to rebuild his plummeting tennis
career, after left knee surgery had forced him off the tour
in September last year.

When a predicted two-month recuperation turned into seven
months, and his ranking dropped into the 200s, Di Pasquale
might have easily been tempted to throw in the towel. But
the determined Frenchman set about building upper body
strength and working on his serve.

He turned down a wildcard into the 2002 Australian Open,
disheartened because the knee had inflamed at a pre-season
training camp in New Caledonia.

When Roland Garros opened its gates again this March, Di
Pasquale was there honing his game, before qualifying for
his first tournament back - in Casablanca, his place of
birth. He lost in the first round but a few weeks later
claimed victory in the Ljubljana challenger, the win
providing all the inspiration he needed to continue.

"I didn't realize when I was (ranked) about No50 - well, I
didn't find things all that difficult. I lost a couple of
points. In the following couple weeks, I got them back. I
felt okay ranked 50 without trying to go too far... I wasn't
committed enough," said the Frenchman.

"Then when I was away from the courts for six months, I
realized I wanted to see just how far I could go. Perhaps
I'm not so good as I was before. But I really feel that
I'm fulfilling myself now."

Next up the former junior world champion faces the giant
Russian Marat Safin, who beat Argentine David Nalbandian
in four sets.

"I haven't thought about my next match yet," said Di Pasquale,
a 6'1" right-hander with a reputation as a bit of a joker who
refuses to take himself too seriously.

"I've won three matches but I must admit I had a playable
draw. The good thing is that I've been able to take advantage
of it. I don't think I've been playing great, just been
playing solid."

An intelligent on-court analyst, Di Pasquale has often
criticised himself for thinking too much during a game.
His new lease on the game has brought a fresh approach to
tactics.

"Well, I'm not playing so much against myself. That explains
my recent victories...I'm trying to play simply, that's all.
I want to ask myself as few questions as possible. I don't
really want to think about my opponent. I want to focus on
myself. Often I have to play against myself.

"If I play Safin, it will be on center court. That will be
great. That's something I want to experience...I'll be very
happy to play him.

"It might be a great match."

No doubt about that.