Coria Beats Choking Mathieu; Fish v Flipper at Challenger

Posted on April 20, 2006

Mathieu Chokes, Federer Stokes Claycourt Fire

Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu took his reputation for choking to a new level Wednesday at the Masters Series-Monte Carlo, squandering a 6-1, 5-1 lead, including four match points, against former Roland Garros runner-up Guillermo Coria in an eventual 1-6, 7-6(6), 6-4 loss.

"I think he had quite bad losses, for example, in the Davis Cup against us...He was supposed to be in the Top 10," said Marat Safin, prophetically speaking of Mathieu's struggles after losing to the Frenchman in the opening round. "I think it's a little bit a pity because he's quite talented guy. But he can be there, but he needs to be more brave, that's for sure."

With the win Coria kept alive his hopes for reaching a fourth consecutive final at Monte Carlo.

"I didn't want to leave this tournament losing 6-1, 5-1 and giving that kind of image of myself here," Coria, who has been struggling with his serve since shoulder surgery, told reporters. "Therefore, I gathered more strength because I like this tournament. I think the people here are so nice and so respectful towards you. So I accepted the fact that I was making double faults and that my serve wasn't working. It's difficult to play when one shot is not working at all, so this gave me a lot of strength to continue fighting and struggling, and I was able to raise my game in the third set."

With one game to go until victory, Mathieu admitted the choke was on.

"At this level, it is unforgivable," Mathieu told reporters. "He was serving so badly, I knew he would give me free points. But he must have thought he was going to lose and just relaxed. I was trying so hard that I tensed up."

World No. 1 Roger Federer got his claycourt game back online in a hurry Wednesday, blitzing Spaniard Al Martin 6-0, 6-1 to move into the third round where he will face qualifier Benjamin Balleret, who advanced when Sebastien Grosjean retired in the third set of their match.

"I've had some fast games, but that one has to be in the top three," Federer told reporters. "I warmed up several times, waiting to go on court. Once I started, I found myself 6-0 up in 20 minutes. It was incredible. I couldn't have played any better...almost."

Balleret said he was just happy to still be around.

"I'm very, very glad to win this match," the No. 351-ranked Balleret, a Monaco native who needed a wildcard into the qualifying, told reporters. "I'm happy, too, he retired because it was not so easy even with his injury...But it's very nice to play here. This court, I know very good."

Other seeded winners into the second round Wednesday were (2) Rafael Nadal (d. (WC) Lisnard), (3) David Nalbandian (d. Seppi), (4) Ivan Ljubicic (d. Serra from a set down), (7) Gaston Gaudio (d. countryman Acasuso in three), (8) David Ferrer (d. Hrbaty in three), (9) Nicolas Kiefer (d. (WC) Llodra), (11) Juan Carlos Ferrero (d. Chela), (12) Fernando Gonzalez (d. F.Lopez in three), and (15) Tommy Robredo (d. O.Rochus).

In addition to fighting through some poor play, Nalbandian was perturbed by his 10 a.m. start time Wednesday.

"I don't know, this kind of tournament, it's ridiculous to play at this time," Nalbandian told reporters. "Looks like, I don't know, futures -- futures in, I don't know, nowhere. So it's ridiculous."

Other upsets on the day were Italian qualifier Alessio Di Mauro outlasting (10) Radek Stepanek 7-6 in the third, and French wildcard Gilles Simon outlasting (16) Tomas Berdych in three.

On Thursday the seeds start to meet in Monte Carlo, with highlights (11) Ferrero vs. (8) Ferrer in an all-Spanish encounter, (15) Robredo vs. (3) Nalbandian, and (6) Coria vs. (9) Kiefer.

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Also see:
Tale of the Tape: Yannick Noah vs. Joakim Noah
http://www.tennis-x.com/fun/2006-04-06/noah.php

ATP Promotion Machine Starts Sputtering
http://www.tennis-x.com/story/2006-04-19/c.php