MELBOURNE, Australia -- Given a second chance to stay alive
in the Australian Open, Magnus Norman turned it down.
In a gesture seldom seen on municipal courts let alone the
fourth round of a Grand Slam, Norman conceded the final point of
his match against Sebastien Grosjean on Monday.
Grosjean slammed an apparent ace and began to celebrate his
fourth-round victory at the Australian Open over Norman, who walked
to the net to offer congratulations.
As the crowd cheered, umpire Mike Morrissey climbed down from
his chair, stepped between the players and informed them the match
wasn't over. He said the net machine had registered a let, meaning
the serve clipped the net and the point didn't count.
Without hesitation, Norman conceded the point -- and defeat.
"I don't know if I would do the same thing," Grosjean
admitted. "That was a real nice gesture. But then again, he's a
Swede."
Grosjean, a 16th-seeded Frenchman, earned his first berth in a
Grand Slam quarterfinal with the 7-6 (7), 6-3, 0-6, 6-4 victory
Monday night.
By reaching the quarterfinals, he is guaranteed $106,000.
Norman, who was seeded fourth, gets $56,000 for losing in the
fourth round. He smiled when asked if he expects to receive the
fair-play prize for 2001.
"It will be difficult to give it to someone else," he said.
"It's the fourth round; we play for a lot of money. When I grew
up, my mother always told me to never give up but to play by the
rules. I think my mother will be proud of me when I call her
tonight."
Norman's concession came after the players battled for 2 hours,
58 minutes. His sporting gesture was all the more remarkable
because on the next-to-last point, a service winner by Grosjean,
Norman argued in vain that the shot was out.
The serve Norman disputed landed two inches long, he said. But
Grosjean's final serve easily cleared the net and was indeed an
ace, he said.
"There was no let," Norman said. "Obviously he didn't hear
any let, and I didn't hear any let."
Had the match continued and Norman rallied to win, "I would
feel bad anyway," he said. "When I go home, I want to feel good
about myself. That's the reason I gave it to him."
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