French upstarts out in force By Guillaume Baraise Thursday, May 27, 2004 French tennis fans have been pinching themselves since the very start of Roland Garros 2004. Proof of the home players’ unprecedented success can be found in two Franco-French duels Friday. Fabrice Santoro takes on Olivier Mutis while Michael Llodra faces Julien Jeanpierre in two of the more unexpected third round encounters. Nicolas Escude is another Frenchman dreaming of a place in the fourth round. Big guns Guillermo Coria (No3) and Carlos Moya (No5) will be optimistic about their chances, as will Amelie Mauresmo (No3) and Lindsay Davenport (No5) in the women’s singles. Whatever the outcome of the two all-French affairs, home fans can rest assured that at least two of their heroes will make it into the last 16. Marathon man Fabrice Santoro faces Roddick slayer Olivier Mutis, while doubles specialist Michael Llodra meets courageous qualifier Julien Jeanpierre. Mutis and Santoro are rewarded for their exploits with a place on Court Philippe Chatrier, and they deserve it. ‘Battling Fab’ has scrapped through two five-setters, against Georgia’s Irakli Labadze on Wednesday, and against Arnaud Clement in the longest match ever in the Open era in the first round. Mutis pulled of one of the biggest sensations so far by disposing of second seed Andy Roddick in five sets on Wednesday evening. Nicolas Escude is the other Frenchman in action Friday. After impressive victories over Wayne Arthurs and Florian Mayer, he can make it three in a row against Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny. A serve and volleyer into the second week? The clay court specialists will be out in force on Friday. Guillermo Coria (No3) should have too much savvy for Croatia’s Mario Ancic, whose strategy of all-out attack is more suited to the faster surfaces. Raemon Sluiter is another who has done well to carry his fast-court game this far, but is likely to be found out against Carlos Moya (No5). Tommy Robredo (No17) versus Nicolas Massu (No11), Alex Corretja v Juan Ignacio Chela (No22) and Tim Henman (No9) against Galo Blanco are all harder to call. The Brit has his fans here, relieved to see someone take the game to their opponent, and like Escude he could well serve and volley his way into the second week . Less matches jump off the paper in the women’s singles, mainly due to the defeat of Justine Henin-Hardenne and no less than six other seeds in the top half of the draw. Amelie Mauresmo (No3) is still there however, and she must be an overwhelming favorite to reach the final now. Suffering with a painful back, she was not altogether convincing in her last match though, and will need to toughen up mentally against Spain’s Arantxa Parra Santonja. Qualifier Marissa Irvin has already gone further than expected and is unlikely to trouble Lindsay Davenport (No5). Nadia Petrova (No8) will already have the semi finals in the back of her mind. She can repeat last year’s run to the last four but should not take Germany’s Marlene Weingartner lightly either. The match of the day in the women’s is probably an all-Russian affair, as demure Vera Zvonareva (No10) and fiery Maria Sharapova (No18) go head to head. --

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