Moya upset; Hewitt, Haas, Kuerten, Corretja through
Nyree Epplett
Friday, May 31, 2002

Outside title prospect Carlos Moya was surprisingly bundled out
in a titanic five set thriller, but seeds Lleyton Hewitt (1),
Tommy Haas (3), Gustavo Kuerten (7) and Alex Corretja (18) all
progressed to the fourth round on Friday.

1998 champion Moya lost to Argentine Guillermo Canas 4-6 7-6(1)
6-7(2) 6-1 6-2 in a four-and-a-half-hour match interrupted by a
bomb scare, while 2001 finalist Corretja survived four match points
to down the charismatic Frenchman Arnaud Clement 6-1 6-2 4-6 5-7
8-6 in the match of the day on Court Philippe Chatrier. At the end
of the four hour epic, Corretja fell to his knees to kiss the red dirt.

Top seed Lleyton Hewitt, No3 seed Tommy Haas, two-time defending
champ Gustavo Kuerten and two-time quarterfinalist Albert Costa
also progressed to the fourth round.

The No18 seed here, Moya's claycourt report card coming into this
event was second to none. The Spaniard led the tour in claycourt
victories (19-5) this season and was expected to triumph over the
No15-seeded Canas to set up a much-anticipated clash with world No1
Lleyton Hewitt.

But the charged-up Argentine turned up the pressure on the Spaniard
early on, thumping him around the baseline and chasing down every
single ball with tiger-like ferocity.

At 1-1 in the third set, a suspicious briefcase in the stands drew
the attention of tournament security, who promptly evacuated the
players and spectators from the stadium.

On return an hour later, Canas put the pedal to the metal, muscling
out the tiebreak for the loss of two points, and steamrolling a tired
and error-strewn Moya in the final two sets. At 4-1 in the fifth,
Canas played the point of the match when he doggedly hunted down a
ball meters out of court, whipping it back down the line for a
sensational passing shot. A disbelieving Moya ended the point
laying flat on his back.

"I never had this feeling before. I was hitting as hard as I
could," said the Spaniard, whose demise came care of 130 unforced
errors, compared to Canas' 88.

"The ball was coming back every time. It was unbelievable. Not even
playing Muster I had this feeling. He runs for every ball, he hits
so hard. I could not have even one minute of relax in four hours,
20 minutes."

"After such a very hard defeat such as this one, you have to stop
thinking about tennis. You have to relax somewhat.

"I had a lot of expectations from this tournament. I was playing
well. And to be ousted at this stage of the game makes me feel
that I want to take a rest, if I can, a few days out."

Canas will now face the lionheart Hewitt, who found his claycourt
groove on a sunny Court Philippe Chatrier today, dismantling
Dutchman Sjeng Schalken 6-1 7-5 6-7(3) 6-1.

The dual will be a re-match of their dramatic fourth round clash
here last year. Canas led the Australian by two sets to love,
before bowing in five.

In other men's results, third seeded German Tommy Haas easily
swept past Finnish rookie Jarkko Nieminen 6-3 7-5 2-6 6-4. The
win was an impressive one, given Haas' struggle with injury this
past fortnight, and his opponent's dream claycourt run leading
into Roland Garros. Nieminen had reached two finals (Estoril
and Mallorca), and claimed the prized scalp of Marat Safin enroute.

Haas next meets Romanian No22 seed Andrei Pavel, a four set
winner over Spaniard Albert Montanes.

In an earlier match, the undisputed king of clay Gustavo Kuerten
extended his winning streak here to 17 matches, exhausting the
young Chilean Fernando Gonzalez 6-3 2-6 7-6(6) 6-4 out on Court
Suzanne Lenglen. 'Guga' now meets No20 seed Albert Costa, who
beat Italian Andrei Gaudenzi 7-6(2) 6-1 7-5 on Friday.