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Results
PARIS -- In the opinion of Andrei Medvedev, Magnus
Norman is not worthy to lead the ATP Champions Race 2000, but
the third-seeded Swede got the last laugh Monday at the French
Open.
Norman needed just 93 minutes to rout the unseeded Ukranian, the
runner-up here last year, 6-0, 6-4, 6-2, in a rain-delayed
fourth-round match to advance to the quarterfinals.
Norman holds the lead in the race for the year-end No. 1
ranking, but Medvedev had ridiculed his status. With the early
elimination of Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras, Norman is the
highest seed remaining in the men's draw.
However, the Swede has expressed his displeasure at the lack of
respect he believes he has received in Paris. He was unhappy at
being placed on one of the outer courts for his third-round
victory over Sargis Sargsian of Armenia on Saturday.
Medvedev riled Norman even further by caling him "the so-called
world No. 1," setting the stage for today's encounter. But
Norman silenced Medvedev, winning the first set in just 20
minutes.
Medvedev advanced to his first Grand Slam final last year in
Paris and squandered a two-set lead in his loss to Agassi.
Joining Norman in the quarterfinals is No. 12 seed Marat Safin
of Russia, who posted a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory over No. 6
Cedric Pioline, the last Frenchman remaining in the tournament.
Safin reached the fourth round at Roland Garros for the third
straight year. The 20-year-old has turned his season around
after taking on former player Andrei Chesnokov as his coach,
winning consecutive claycourt events in Barcelona and Mallorca
and reaching the final at Hamburg.
Safin improved to 2-2 lifetime against Pioline, also winning
their most recent match in the quarterfinals at Hamburg.
Pioline, 30, had dropped only one set in winning his first three
matches. He won the Tennis Masters Series event in Monte Carlo
and was a quarterfinalist at Hamburg, Germany in claycourt
tuneups for Paris.
Two other fourth-round matches were suspended because of
darkness. Albert Costa of Spain leads ninth seed Lleyton Hewitt
of Australia, 6-3, 4-4, and Franco Squillari has a commanding
6-4, 6-1, 3-3 lead on 15th seed Younes El Aynaoui of Morroco.
Martina Navratilova's third-round women's doubles match was
pushed back a day.
The 43-year-old Navratilova, who is playing in her first French
Open since 1994, teams will team with Mariaan de Swardt to face
the sixth-seeded French duo of Alexandra Fusai and Nathalie
Tauziat.
Navratilova and de Swardt defeated the 12th-seeded Slovenian duo
of Tina Krizan and Katarina Srebotnik, 7-6 (7-2), 7-5, on
Saturday to reach the third round.
A two-time singles champion and seven-time doubles winner at the
French Open, Navratilova is playing doubles in four tournaments
as part of her comeback, although she has stated that she is
playing for fun rather than winning titles.
After playing in Paris, Navratilova will compete at a grasscourt
event in Eastbourne, England before attempting to tie Billie
Jean King for the most overall Wimbledon titles with 20 later
this month.
Navratilova was eliminated in the second round of mixed doubles
on Sunday.
Top seed Martina Hingis of Switzerland and Americans Monica
Seles, Venus Williams and Chanda Rubin earned quarterfinal
berths on the women's side Sunday. Former French Open champions
Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia and Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil set
up a quarterfinal clash on the men's side.
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