Russians Advance as Capriati, Suarez Implode at French Open

Posted on June 4, 2004

Is there a champion in the house? A woman who can rise above the host of choking performances at this year's French Open?

Just as Amelie Mauresmo admitted that the nervous jitters were at fault for her ugly quarterfinal performance, on Thursday Argentina's Paola Suarez transformed into Nervous Nellie in a throat-clutching 6-0, 7-5 loss to Russia's Elena "Marshmallow-serve" Dementieva.

"Obviously now I'm rather angry. I'm really angry actually," said Suarez, who didn't even get on the board until the second set after failing to drop a set entering the semis. "I think that soon I'll get over my anger, then I'll be able to remember all the good moments I've gone through."

The Argentine, who at time seemingly struggled to simply hit the ball down the middle of the court, was plagued by an erratic game and bouts of double faulting on her serve, culminating in a double fault on match point while serving at 5-6.

Suarez's experience in five previous French Open doubles finals failed to help her hang mentally on the big stage in singles.

"Both of us were nervous, you know," Suarez said. "I mean, it was the semifinal of a grand slam. That's why I think there were too many unforced errors and double faults."

Anastasia Myskina made it a historic all-Russian final by defeating a sluggish-looking Jennifer Capriati 6-2, 6-2 in the second semifinal, perplexing the American by changing the pace of shot frequently during the contest.

"I haven't been used to someone hitting the ball really so -- I don't know," said Capriati, who had no "Plan B" for an opponent who didn't mirror her brainless slugging from the baseline. "She was just kind of almost pushing it on purpose and hitting really with no pace on purpose. I was just expecting Myskina to come out and play the normal game."

Myskina vs. Dementieva will be the first all-Russian grand slam final in Open Era history.

In men's semifinal doubles action, unseeded waffles Xavier "X-Man" Malisse and Olivier Rochus served up a shocker, outlasting No. 3 seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Max "The Beast" Mirnyi 7-6(1), 4-6, 6-2 to gain the final against Frenchmen Santoro/Llodra, who beat the Bryan brothers.

The mixed doubles semis were also completed with No. 4-seeded Zimbabweans and brother/sister Wayne and Cara Black (d. Hantuchova/Woodbridge) and unseeded French kids Richard Gasquet/Tatiana Golovin (d. Bovina/Zimonjic) into the final.

On court today are (8)Nalbandian vs. Gaudio in an all-Argentine (first meeting), (3)Coria vs. (9)Henman (El Mago leads 2-1, with Our Tim winning on clay in 2002), (1)Ruano Pascual/Suarez vs. Testud/Vinci and (2)Kuznetsova/Likhovtseva vs. (5)Navratilova/Raymond in the women's doubles semis, and (4)Black/Black vs. Gasquet/Golovin in the mixed final.

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NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
How bad is the quality of women's tennis without the Williams sisters and the Belgians? The two semifinals made one long for senior doubles...Anastasia Myskina-Elena Dementieva will play in the first Russian final in Slam history. Olga Morosova -- not Natasha Zvereva who was BELA-Russian -- is the last Russian to reach a Slam final until Thursday...The last 9 slam finals on the women's side have been all-country...Tim Henman beat Guillermo Coria on clay in Monte Carlos two years ago. Coria has beaten him the last two times, however. But with no rain expected, the court will play fast and "Our Tim" will have a chance to keep it close...Bob and Mike Bryan again lost to Fabrice Santoro/Michael Llodra...Thursday at Roland Garros was Ladies Day, where every lady received a flower as they walk through the front gate...It's the 40th time in the Open Era that a single country has three or more of its players in a Slam semifinal...Guillermo Coria has won 36 of his last 37 matches on clay...David Nalbandian has reached three of the four grand slam semifinals...Friday Roland Garros Forecast: Getting warmer...The ATP officially announced that the Masters Cup will be moving to Shanghai for 2005-07, which was not enthusiastically greeted by the European or U.S. press or fans, though the ATP seemed pleased: "We are thrilled that Shanghai is hosting the Tennis Masters Cup again," said Mark Miles, CEO of the ATP. "The city went to great lengths to stage a spectacular world-class event in 2002 and as a direct result, tennis in China is booming. The popularity will only grow even more with having one of the world's most prestigious tennis events in Shanghai for the next three years." Once again the ATP gives the premier event to the highest bidder rather than thinking about the good of tennis. Next stop for the Masters Cup, once they get their oil money together by 2008: Iraq...Who would have thought that Paola Suarez would choke the semi after being on the big stage so many times in doubles? You and Amelie Mauresmo need to chip in and hire a shrink...Tim Henman has been one match away from a grand slam final five times now, but never on clay...Guillermo Coria was boys' champion at Roland Garros in 1999, defeating countryman David Nalbandian in the final.