Kuerten Earns Overdue Redemption

NEW YORK —  To prepare himself for his match against Marat Safin, the big-hitting Russian who is seeded second at the U.S. Open, Gustavo Kuerten showed up for the Spark-Liberty WNBA game Thursday night.

Kuerten had a front-row seat at Madison Square Garden. He had a big box of popcorn and wide-eyed appreciation for the physical play. “They always try to intimidate each other,” Kuerten said.

His way has never been intimidating on the tennis court. Kuerten experiences his sport with a giggle and loose-limbed enthusiasm. His season has been marked by hip surgery, pain and so many disappointing losses that Kuerten, who was seeded No. 1 here a year ago, came to the Open unseeded.

Friday brought some redemption and proof that his elegant strokes are still punishing, that his joyful spirit has not been doused at the expense of his competitive fire.

In straight sets, in 2 hours 11 minutes, Kuerten upset Safin, the 2000 Open champion, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5.

This was the only real surprise of a routine day unless you count it as an upset that the weathermen were wrong. Rain barely touched the schedule. Or unless you count it as a shock that Serena Williams, the defending women’s champion, appeared in a new outfit at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Martina Navratilova, who will turn 46 in October, and Leander Paes of India upended the top-seeded mixed doubles team of Australians Rennae Stubbs and Todd Woodbridge, 7-6 (4), 7-5. Navratilova was visibly thrilled, pumping her fist, and Paes saluted her afterward, bowing in the “I’m-not-worthy” fashion.

And Arnaud Clement’s 6-3, 3-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 win over 10th-seeded Sebastien Grosjean was technically an upset. But the two Frenchmen know each other’s likes, dislikes, backhands and forehands and they fought for nearly four hours on the tightly packed Grandstand court.

Four-time Open champion and 2001 finalist Pete Sampras moved safely into the third round. With losses to such anonymous players as Paul-Henri Mathieu, George Bastl and Andrea Gaudenzi this year, no match is a certainty for Sampras.

But Kristian Pless, a 21-year-old from Denmark, provided little resistance to Sampras, 10 years older and 13 Grand Slam titles ahead of Pless. Sampras used 21 aces, including a big, kicking serve on match point, to eliminate Pless, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4.

So pretty in pink, Williams needed seven minutes to win the first three games of her third-round U.S. Open match against No. 26 Nathalie Dechy of France; 24 minutes to win the first set and 49 minutes to win the match, 6-1, 6-1.

Williams switched from her single-piece, all-black, self-described cat suit to a skin-tight pink shirt that was strategically slit to display a dangling navel ring, and a black skirt. The addition of pink did not soften the percussive power of Williams’ game. Dechy, of France, never was allowed an opening to move the ball.

Equally overpowering was 1998 champion and No. 4 seed Lindsay Davenport, who also took 49 minutes to oust 17-year-old qualifier Marion Bartoli, 6-3, 6-1. Bartoli, of France, ranked No. 231 in the world and the reigning U.S. Open girls’ champion, never had a break point. Davenport, playing her fifth tournament after missing eight months because of knee surgery, had 11 aces and 37 winners.

Also moving on was 11th-seeded Andy Roddick, who celebrated his 20th birthday with a 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 second-round win over Raemon Sluiter of the Netherlands.

Kuerten, a three-time winner of the French Open, has only been as far as the quarterfinals here. Though he played a quality three-set match against Andre Agassi in the quarterfinals of the Mercedes Benz Cup in Los Angeles last month, Kuerten had arrived here after two first-round losses in Toronto and Cincinnati and little confidence that his sore hip would allow him the freedom of movement to glide about the court.

“But I really put a lot of effort on practice and in the gym to be ready for this one,” Kuerten said. “I think everything has come together at the right time for me.”

Kuerten, 25, brought a modest 12-10 match record and No. 46 ranking into the Open and with no seed, Kuerten has been left to float through the draw, knowing he would have to pick off top-ranked players in nearly every round.

The Ashe Stadium crowd was firmly behind Kuerten, who bowed to the fans in appreciation at the end.

“I think,” Safin said, “he played one of his best matches. He was playing fast and he served well.”

Roddick, who reached the quarterfinals here last year but who hasn’t advanced past the third round of any of the first three 2002 Grand Slam events, said he has found some missing confidence.

“I’m actually competing and I’m actually feeling my shots,” he said. “I’m hitting the shots I want to hit.”

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At a Glance

Friday’s highlights from the U.S. Open tennis championships:

Weather: Overcast and cool with a high of 73.

Key men’s results: Winners--No. 3 Tommy Haas, No. 5 Tim Henman, No. 7 Juan Carlos Ferrero, No. 11 Andy Roddick, No. 19 Xavier Malisse, No. 24 Sjeng Schalken, No. 26 Juan Ignacio Chela, No. 29 Thomas Enqvist, Gustavo Kuerten, Pete Sampras. Losers--No. 2 Marat Safin, No. 10 Sebastien Grosjean.

Key women’s results: Winners--No. 1 Serena Williams, No. 4 Lindsay Davenport, No. 8 Justine Henin, No. 11 Daniela Hantuchova. Losers--No. 22 Tatiana Panova, No. 24 Iva Majoli, No. 26 Nathalie Dechy.

Stat of the Day: Davenport yielded only one point against her first serve (27 of 28) in her match with Marion Bartoli.

Today’s featured matches: Women--Venus Williams (2) vs. Martina Mueller, Germany; Jennifer Capriati (3) vs. Meghann Shaughnessy (30); Monica Seles (6) vs. Yoon Jeong Cho, South Korea; Martina Hingis (9), Switzerland, vs. Amanda Coetzer, South Africa. Men--Lleyton Hewitt (1), Australia, vs. James Blake (25); Andre Agassi (6) vs. Ramon Delgado, Paraguay.