This observer cannot recall a Grand Slam event in which so many highly-regarded players were history before the second week. This was especially true on the women's side, although some high-profile men hit the deck early as well. Some of the big names sent packing early included the following luminaries.
Due to the limitations of time and space, we will refrain from mentioning Sánchez-Vicario,
Martinez, Rafter, Coetzer, Clément, etc....
Amélie Mauresmo
The French star, who had held the hot hand in the clay-court warmups prior to Roland Garros, was the pick of many to win the title on her home soil. The weight of expectations in her native land proved too heavy to bear, however, and she slumped to a 5-7, 5-7 defeat to the photogenic but undistinguished Jana Kandarr. After the disaster, Mauresmo went off to an undisclosed location in France to gather her morale for an assault at Wimbledon.
Before high-tailing it to her top-secret vacation spot, Mauresmo shared some thoughts on the pressures she faced in front of the home crowd. "The status of favourite was something new for me," admitted Mauresmo in a refreshingly honest appraisal during her post-match press conference.
Marat Safin
After his third-round ouster, #2 men's seed Marat Safin didn't give a press conference of any kind. He skipped the media ritual, and was fined the maximum $10,000 because of similar transgressions in the past. The Russian's up-and-down performance in a 4-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-0, 1-6 loss to his nemesis, the master tactician Fabrice Santoro, was a microcosm of his futile efforts this season.
Marat's brain has become so muddled that his friend and compatriot Yevgeny Kafelnikov felt obliged to give him a public scolding in front of the world's tennis media. "I respect Marat for what he accomplished last year, but he has to grow up," observed Kafelnikov, who is brutally frank at the best of times. One would think these words will be ringing in Safin's ears as he tries to regroup for the second half of the season.
Venus Williams.
One of the handful of women given a chance to succeed in the City of Light, world #2 Venus Williams drew a tough cookie in the first round in Barbara Schett, a former top ten performer who is right at home on the clay. Never looking comfortable in the match and probably short on preparation, Venus sprayed 49 unforced errors in a 4-6, 4-6 loss to the solid Austrian.
The American also made a quick getaway from Paris, leaving her sister to take the fall for their withdrawal from the women's doubles competition. Meanwhile, Schett avoided the trap of a letdown, and has admirably reached the round of sixteen.
Jelena Dokic.
The reconverted Yugoslav was fresh off a big win in Rome just before the French Open, and appeared the favourite to advance to the final after the surprising losses by Williams and Mauresmo. But she too was a victim of the upset bug in the third round, when she was unaccountably ousted by Hungarian qualifier Petra Mandula, 6-3, 4-6, 4-6. Dokic admitted that she took her opponent too lightly. "You probably thought too far ahead and I think that's what happened today. It was a player I shouldn't have lost
to."
That last phrase was an interesting twist on Dokic's controversial appraisal of another Hungarian who bundled her out of a Grand Slam event, Rita Kuti Kis. After her loss to Kuti Kis, Dokic drew worldwide criticism with her outburst that the Hungarian was "not a player and never will be a player." As it turned out, there was a Kuti Kis-Mandula connection in Paris that went beyond the mere coincidence of their common nationality. "I spoke to Rita before the match and she gave me some good advice," Mandula
told reporters. "I'm sure she already changed her opinion about Rita. I hope she didn't say anything like this about me." Not quite, Petra, but she came close!
Pete Sampras.
We don't mean to imply that Pete, who has not advanced past the third round at Roland Garros since 1996, was a pre-tournament favourite. But this is one of the best players of all time, and never has he looked as lost on the clay as he did this year. Fortunate to survive a marathon first-rounder against the anonymous French qualifier Cédric Kauffmann, Sampras then listlessly lost to the solid Spanish clay-courter Galo Blanco, 6-7, 3-6, 2-6.
Sampras now moves to his "office", Wimbledon, in search of an eighth All-England title, with more question marks hanging over his head than ever. Pete has not won a title since last year's Wimbledon. He has only had one good tournament in 2001, Indian Wells, where he was a losing finalist to Andre Agassi. He looks heavy and slow. If Pete can pull off a Wimbledon title in these conditions, it will truly be remarkable.