Friday, August 11, 2000
Quarterfinalists: Who are these guys?
By Neil Schmidt
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Ball boy holds Marat Safin's broken racket after Russina slammed it to the ground during loss to Fabrice Santoro.
(Steven M. Herppich photo)
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MASON — They speak little English. Their names trip the spell-checker. They are asked for identification entering the players' lounge and go ignored by the autograph hounds.
Meet Fernando Vicente, Arnaud Clement, Fabrice Santoro and Franco Squillari. Not even household names in their own households, they're collectively half the field today in the Tennis Masters Series Cincinnati quarterfinals.
These aren't improbable giant-killers; all are ranked among the top 55 in the ATP Tour's Champions Race. They represent the parity in men's tennis.
While fans look at today's draw and scratch their heads, not seeing the big names, these party crashers see opportunity.
Arnaud Clement
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“Better for me. Better for us,” Squillari said. “When we see a (Pete) Sampras or an (Andre) Agassi there, it's so tough for us.”
This isn't just a one-tournament aberration. Some of the finalists this year in other Tennis Masters Series events: Cedric Pioline, Dominik Hrbaty, Harel Levy.
Of today's four surprise quarterfinalists, only Santoro had won a match here before this year. Squillari and Vicente are clay-court specialists. Only Squillari is seeded; he's 13th.
A closer look:
• Vicente brought a seven-match losing streak to Cincinnati.
“Four of those (seven losses) were 7-6 or 8-6 in the final set,” the 23-year-old Spaniard said. “I lost confidence. Now is a different story.”
Fernando Vicente
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Thursday, trailing Mark Philippoussis 4-1 in a third-set tiebreak, Vicente won six straight points for a 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-4) upset of the 16th seed. He survived 27 Philippoussis aces.
Vicente heard the claims he was lucky to beat top seed Agassi Tuesday when Agassi retired with an injury in the third set.
“I was going to win that (Agassi) match the way it was going,” Vicente said.
• Santoro had to play two matches Thursday, because his second-round match Wednesday was rained out. Plus, the 27-year- old Frenchman is playing with a broken middle finger in his right (racket) hand.
Fabrice Santoro
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But he managed an upset of No.8 seed Marat Safin, who won the Tennis Masters Series Canada last week.
“Because I broke my finger, I ended up taking all of July off,” Santoro said. “Now I feel fresh, which helped me today.”
Santoro had taped his broken finger to his index finger last week in Canada, when he struggled in a first-round loss. This week, he tried taping the middle finger to his ring finger.
“That made all the difference,” he said.
• Clement, Santoro's 22-year-old countryman, is a speedy baseliner who thrives on both hard courts and clay. Though essentially a Michael Chang clone, he didn't pick his style while watching Chang's epic run to the 1989 French Open title.
“I never watched matches on TV,” Clement said. “I didn't have the interest.”
Clement upset fifth seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov 6-4, 6-1 Thurs day and plays Squillari today.
Franco Squillari
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• Squillari, a 23-year-old Argentinian who has risen to No.11 in the ATP Champions Race, remains unrecognized here.
“It's normal,” he said. “Maybe if I won more, people here would know me. But I don't mind not playing on Center Court.”
A big run here could propel Squillari toward the year-end Tennis Masters Cup; only the top eight in the Champions Race are invited.
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