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Kuerten still winning the pain game
Gustavo Kuerten maintained his painful progress at the French Open on Monday with a 6-3 7-5 6-4 victory over Spain's Feliciano Lopez in the fourth round.
Brazilian Gustavo Kuerten maintained his painful progress at the French Open on Monday with a 6-3 7-5 6-4 victory over Spain's Feliciano Lopez in the fourth round.
The three-times former champion and darling of the Paris crowd is playing despite constant pain in his right hip that dates back to 2001, the last time he won at Roland Garros.
Kuerten, who faces either Argentina's David Nalbandian or Russian Marat Safin in the quarter-finals, says he experiences pain after about one set's play and it has caused him to change totally his approach to the game.
"I've had the same problem for three years," said the 27-year-old, who knocked out Swiss top seed Roger Federer in round three. "After my surgery (in 2002) my hip is not able to work as before.
"It's sometimes very painful and frustrating on court. If I am out there trying hard for one hour I start to get some pain in my leg.
"But when you are playing tournaments like this, in the quarter-finals, with your adrenalin high, you can bear a lot more than in practice or in the early rounds.
"The reality of being in the quarter-finals again is special for me, maybe more special than when I beat Roger."
Kuerten had to retire from his last match before Roland Garros, in the Barcelona quarter-finals on April 30, because he was in so much pain.
He would almost certainly not have played at the French Open if it had been any other grand slam than his favourite claycourt event, which he also won in 1997 and 2000.
Kuerten is bidding to become only the second player since tennis turned professional in 1968 to win the French Open four times. Swede Bjorn Borg won it six times between 1974 and 1981.
The likeable Brazilian says he has learnt a great deal from his progress so far -- a five-set first round win followed by three three-set victories -- and has changed his training routine.
"Sometimes I expect more for myself in training but I cannot get that much," he said. "But after these last three weeks at least I know I have to take care of my hip a lot more. It has to come first, before everything."
DELICIOUS SMASH
On Monday, Lopez tried to make Kuerten run but with little success in a one-sided match that suggested the Brazilian is playing some of the best tennis of his career, despite his physical problems.
Kuerten broke for 3-1 in the first set and delivered a delicious smash to close it out.
He produced the shot of the match to break decisively at 5-5 in the second set, a wonderful crosscourt forehand that left 22-year-old Lopez, who has reached the Wimbledon fourth round twice, rolling his eyes in frustration.
The Brazilian was knocked out in the fourth round at Roland Garros in 2002 and 2003 by a Spanish opponent, but there was never any danger of a repeat and he broke for 5-4 in the third set before completing an impressive one-hour 53-minute workout.
"I still have some doubts about what will happen if I go to four or five sets," Kuerten said. "I am sure the other guys know this and they try to make me run around more, like today. But I know what they are gonna do."
