Finally the sun shone brightly on the Toronto tournament, and it was a great day for a full slate of third round matches. We focus on a splendid Kafelnikov-Ferrero duel, and a peculiar Golmard-Rios encounter.
Yevgeny Kafelnikov (5) def. Juan Carlos Ferrero (12), 6-1, 4-6, 6-4
3rd round
Court 1
Previous head-to-head: Ferrero leads 1-0
This was one of the best matches of the tournament so far, on a par with the Rios-Henman first round match. The dynamic 20-year-old "Mosquito" from Spain, Juan Carlos Ferrero came back from a bad start to fight a tempermental but determined Yevgeny Kafelnikov to a standstill, before finally "blinking" late in a thrilling third set.
I arrived late in the first set, and Kafelnikov was in control 4-1. A perturbed Ferrero, who had beaten Kafelnikov easily on clay in Davis Cup this spring, was finding out that Yevgeny is a different animal on hard courts. Juan Carlos seemed to be throwing away the last two games to focus on the second set. And focus he did, raising his game and obliging Kafelnikov to call on all his resources to pull it out.
There was some fabulous baseline tennis in the second and third tennis. Both players change directions well on their shots, and hurt each other often with their effective down the line backhands. Kafelnikov, the harder server, held his serve more easily than Ferrero in the early stages of the second set. But that was about to change.
Serving at 3-4 in the second set, Kafel got into a 15-40 hole. He served his way to deuce, but on his fourth break point Ferrero finally converted with a somewhat fortunate first-serve return that floated on the sideline. A furious Kafelnikov slammed the ball against the court. But serving at 5-3 Ferrero showed that his "iceman" exterior hides some nerves (I have seen him play three times, and the biggest weakness this tremendously talented youngster has at this stage is nervous play on big points late
in sets). He badly mistimed three shots, falling into a 15-40 pickle. Yevgeny capitalized with a running backhand passing shot that just caught the back line. It was great stuff, and we were back on serve!
But we weren't back on serve for long. Serving to stay in the set at 4-5, Yevgeny hoisted a backhand long, and it was 0-30. Then a double fault! "Kafel" went into one of his patented rages, driving a ball across the court and almost striking a ball girl, earning a code violation warning for unsportsmanlike conduct from umpire Norm Chryst. The Russian saved a set point with a service winner, but at 15-40 nervously double faulted again, handing the second set to Ferrero, 6-4.
Kafelnikov talked after the match about those nervous moments. "Basically I was in control in the second set, but you know, the intensity is so high that every point costs so much, and I made a few easy mistakes."
The great up-tempo baseline action resumed in the third set, Ferrero impressing with his speed and splendid whipping forehands hit on the run. But his weaker serve was being attacked by the potent Kafelnikov returns, and in a thrilling game at 4-4 he was finally broken. The players battled through 6 deuces in this epic game, taking turns striking fabulous backhands and making great scrambling "gets". Umpire Chryst assessed another warning to Yevgeny for taking too much time getting ready to return serv
e before a game point for Ferrero, a decision angrily contested by the moody Russian. But Kafelnikov won the point, Ferrero staying in the rally with his retrieving skills before the Spanish phenom finally netted a forehand, forcing the 6th deuce. Ferrero then had two chances to put away overheads but they were too weak, and Yevgeny got them both back ? his second retrieval luckily catching the tape and falling over the net well beyond Ferrero's reach. It was now advantage Kafelnikov, his third point o
f the game, and the pressure finally got to Ferrero: he double faulted. The normally impassive youngster slammed his racquet angrily to the court.
Would Kafelnikov now feel the nerves when serving for the match, as he did at the end of the second set? No, my friends! He decisively closed it out with a strong service winner to Ferrero's backhand at 40-15, on his second match point. Make the final: 6-1, 4-6, 6-4.
The 5th seed is on to the quarterfinals, where he will face his doubles partner Wayne Ferreira, who beat back the big-serving Richard Krajicek today, 7-5, 7-6 (7-4). The two can put all their energy into their singles match, since they were eliminated from the doubles by Josh Eagle & Andrew Florent today.
Many of the top players don't appear to place much importance in this tournament, but Canada has become a very important tournament to Kafelnikov. It was in Canada that he stopped a slump last year by reaching the Montreal final, starting a fine summer sequence that culminated with his run to the U.S. Open final. "Without exception I would like to make a move here. It is the beginning of the hard court season for me. If you look at last year, I went to Montreal and made the final. So hopefully I can m
ake one step further here."
And if anyone had doubts about just how talented this Ferrero kid is, they were hopefully erased today!
Jérôme Golmard def. Marcelo Rios, 2-6, 7-5, 7-5
3rd round
Stadium court
Previous head-to-head: Rios leads 1-0
This was a strange one! After upsetting Tim Henman and with a golden opportunity to go far this week, Marcelo Rios let one get away on centre court today. Leading by a set and 3-0 with two breaks of serve, Rios was unable to finish off Jérôme Golmard, and the unorthodox but talented French lefty turned aggressive, went to the bathroom, took his chances, and finally edged the strangely-behaving Chilean to reach his first Masters Series quarterfinal.
I was at Enqvist-Novak and missed the first half of this match. A female fan who had seen the early action briefed me, and seemed less than thrilled with the spectacle Golmard was offering: "he's not doing anything. I don't know how he beat Agassi!" Golmard himself didn't think he was playing so badly though. "I was expecting more errors on his part. I wasn't making errors, but I wasn't winning the points." Both players were battling from the baseline, and Rios was dominating at that style.
The wheels began to come off for the pony-tailed Chilean when he served with a 6-2, 4-3 lead. He picked a poor time to make several baseline blunders, and Golmard finally got the errors he had been waiting for. When Rios sent a backhand into the net at break point, it was 4-4 and Golmard was back in the match. With Rios serving at 5-6, 30-30, Golmard turned aggressive, surprising the entire stadium by rushing the net behind a first serve return. A shocked Rios netted his passing shot, and it wa
s break point and set point. Golmard got lucky here: his awkward-looking backhand struck the top of the net and trickled over. Rios ran down the ball but couldn't lift his reply high enough. Suddenly the match was all even!
Early in the third set Golmard felt the need to relieve himself, and took a long bathroom break. Gamesmanship? It should be said that Golmard has a bit of a reputation for this. He also took a bathroom break in the late stages of a close match with Tim Henman at the 1998 Lipton, a match that Golmard went on to win. Henman is angry about it to this day. Golmard admitted that his trip to the loo was motivated by more than just the call of nature. "I needed to go to the bathroom and it was important fo
r my mind too, to fresh my mind for the third set." I also noted that Golmard occasionally took an eternity between points, which seemed to irritate Rios.
Golmard's long visit to the john was not the only strange behaviour in the third set. Rios started displaying a rather odd type of demeanour. He twirled his racquet distractedly, or tossed it in the air, between points. He shrugged a lot. When receiving serve he stood casually as if he wasn't particularly interested. But once the points started he seemed to be trying reasonably hard to win them. What was going on? A little gamesmanship to get back at Golmard? A way of dealing with the pressure? Or
was he just showing us he was tanking the match (I don't think he was, though)? Unfortunately none of the reporters dared to asked to interview Rios, so we don't know his side of the story. Golmard was asked about his opponent's appearance of disinterest, but the Frenchman, for whom the English language is a struggle, either misunderstood the question or chose not to answer it.
The players saved on serve until the 12th game of the third set, with Rios serving to force a tie-break at 5-6.
- 15-15: Golmard again comes in behind a first serve return! Rios nets his backhand pass attempt.
- 15-30: Golmard does it again! This time Marcelo's pass works, and Golmard nets the volley.
- 30-30: A Rios approach shot lands just wide. It's awfully close, Rios gives the line a look, but argues not.
- 30-40, match point: Rios nails a forehand winner.
- Deuce: First serve is out. Second serve is a let. "Oooh," say the crowd. Second serve again: double fault into the net!
- Advantage Golmard, second match point: A Rios backhand volley looks like a winner, but Golmard races over and hits a running forehand down the line. Rios looks like he has it covered but his backhand volley winds up in the net. Game, set and match, Golmard. Jérôme falls on his back and lies there with his arms raised. What were you feeling, Jérôme? "I don't know how to explain in English. "La délivrance." No, not the Burt Reynolds movie: he felt he was finally set free.
This was certainly a strange match that Rios had no business losing, but Golmard deserves credit for hanging in there and adopting more aggressive tactics to help turn the tide. "I reversed the trend," said Golmard in French. "I had to become the boss and get him on the defensive." When asked to compare this win to his first-round upset of Agassi, Golmard commented: "Beating Rios is not as important as beating Agassi, because Sampras and Agassi are above the rest. But I had to do a lot more today tha
n against Agassi." The droll Frenchman started 2000 well, with a title in India the first week of the season, but has since struggled with his confidence and motivation until this week. "For me this is a new start. I took a new coach and my mind is strong again, that was what was missing. It's exciting for the rest of the year."
Golmard's quarterfinal opponent is an even bigger surprise package than Golmard himself, the little-known Israeli qualifier Harel Levy. The Israeli upset Sébastien Grosjean, who like Golmard is part of the French tennis colony residing in Boca Raton, Florida, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
Jiri Novak def. Thomas Enqvist (6), 6-2, 1-6, 3-1, retired
3rd round
Court 1
Previous head-to-head: Novak leads 2-1
The tournament lost yet another seed, this time to an inflamed right ankle, when #6 Thomas Enqvist limped off the court in the third set of his third round match with the unseeded Czech Jiri Novak.
It was a matchup of somewhat similar players. The Euro-giants ? both are 6'3" ? possess excellent two-handed backhands and a strong return game. The principal differences are Enqvist's superior power? and superior ranking! Novak is no slouch though, reaching four quarterfinals this year and astonishingly beating Pete Sampras in Davis Cup play in April.
Enqvist was obviously out of sorts at the start of the match, and was guilty of numerous backhand errors and double faults (5 in the set, 11 in the match) as he dropped the first set 6-2. Late in the set a trainer came to attend to Enqvist's right ankle, which was already taped (he has had frequent problems with the ankle this season, and withdrew from Davis Cup last month because of it). Novak, aside from some excellent returns of serve, was content to make Enqvist run and wait for the errors to come.
Enqvist started the second set still looking uncomfortable. Unable to move well, he decided to end the points quickly by attempting baseline winners early in the point. This strategy worked like a charm, as the Swede took an early 2-0 lead thanks to some powerful backhand winners. Thomas, now more confident and striking blazing forehand returns and sending Novak scrambling from one sideline to the other, went on to stretch the lead to 4-0. Novak finally got on the board to make it 5-1, but Enqvist wra
pped up the set on back to back aces to level the match.
It was more of the same as the third set started. Novak was broken at love in game one, double faulting at break point, and slouched despondently. But Enqvist returned the favour by double faulting his own serve away. In the Swede's next service game, his injury problems were becoming more apparent, as he double-faulted twice more, grimacing when he put weight on his right foot. Trailing 1-3 now, Enqvist approached the net shaking his head, signalling that he had had enough. Make the final: 6-2, 1-6,
3-1, ret., and Jiri Novak is off to his fifth, and most important, quarterfinal of the season.
Novak will now test his fine returns against the serve-volley game of Patrick Rafter tomorrow. These two also met in last year's Canadian Open, when Novak pushed Rafter hard before losing 6-3, 6-4 in a match that was closer than the score indicates.
As for Enqvist, he will probably wait until the last minute to decide whether he will test his ankle in Cincinnati next week.