Clement outclasses Coutelot
By Benjamin Waldbaum & David Tutton
Saturday, May 31, 2003
Arnaud Clement out-thought and out-fought compatriot
Nicolas Coutelot 6-4 6-3 6-2 on Philippe Chatrier Court
to secure a spot in the fourth round. The lad from
Aix-en-Provence has now attained the last sixteen in all
four Grand Slams, and can legitimately hope to go even
further here.
Clement and Coutelot go back a long, long way to their
junior days when Coutelot was a cut above his smaller
rival. Since turning pro, though, Clement has been on
the rise, while 'La Coute' has struggled to break through
at the highest level. The two had only met once before
on the pro circuit, in Saint-Brieuc six years ago. Clement
on that day (6-4 5-7 6-1) and so it proved again here.
Both men were attempting to reach the fourth round at
Roland-Garros for the first time. Coutelot went out to
Australian Wayne Arthurs after four tiebreaks last year.
Clement was so near yet so far then too, missing out on
four match points before going down to Spaniard Alex
Corretja.
As expected, Arnaud mixed it up right from the off. He
came into the net regularly, hitting a series of handy
serve-volley winners. Nicolas, the hard-hitter from Nice,
began well too, mixing driven winners with the odd drop
shot to keep Clement guessing.
Soon, though, the qualifier was feeling the heat, both
literally (it was another scorcher here today in Paris)
and metaphorically.
His long five-set triumph over David Nalbandian in the
previous round was a hindrance rather than a help here.
Clement had break points in 12 of Coutelot's 14 service
games (18 break points in all).
"La Coute" was on the slippery slope, with his unforced
errors costing him dearly (67 compared to 37 for Clement).
He only took Clement's service once, at 6-4 6-3 3-1 against
him. That turned out to be a last hurrah though, and he
lost the next three to give up the ghost after two hours,
six minutes.
Clement was obviously delighted: "Everything went exactly
to plan. I got so close in 2002, there was no way I was
going to pass up an opportunity like this".
A happy chappy then, and one who is well capable of
reaching the quarters at least. The reason for such optimism?
The convincing manner of his three straight-set wins, the
minimum of energy dispensed so far, and the fact that he now
faces defending champ Albert Costa, who must be absolutely
exhausted after his mammoth five-set win over Nicolas
Lapentti.
--
erase all the memories
they will only bring us pain
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