Safin Gets Treatment, Then Wins

PARIS —  Passion, power and purpose were flowing from both ends on the main show court at the French Open on Saturday. But it came from Marat Safin of Russia and his defeated opponent, Italian qualifier Potito Starace, not the expected source, Roger Federer of Switzerland and Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil.

Kuerten vs. Federer was highlighted for good reason. But that match never reached the anticipated heights, lacking the daily controversy generated by Safin. The purpose and passion was limited to Kuerten, who beat top-seeded Federer in their third-round match, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.

It was considerably different hours later on an emotionally charged Court Philippe Chatrier. Safin saved two match points in the fourth set and defeated Starace, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, 7-5, in the third round, leaving to a chorus of boos from the crowd.

The ire came from an incident in the 10th game of the fourth set. With Starace serving for the match, at 5-4, Safin called for the trainer at a critical juncture, at deuce. Safin had just saved two match points, one with a forehand volley, the other with a forehand passing shot.

He had several blisters on his left hand and needed treatment. Safin even showed his hand to Starace, and he held it up afterward to reporters in his post-match news conference.

“I am not the kind of person to take the doctor on a point like that,” Safin said. “I couldn’t hold the racket from the backhand. I have nine blisters, completely just no skin on it.... And I show it to the guy [Starace] because probably he didn’t believe it.”

Some, including Starace, thought his timing was questionable. Safin was asked if he was aware that he broke the concentration of his opponent.

“But he should be, also, not a junior. We’re not playing junior tournaments,” Safin said. “It’s like a professional tour.”

Said Starace: “Everybody could see he had blisters on his hand, but maybe he could have stopped earlier.”

But the controversy should not overshadow an incredible match that lasted almost 4 1/2 hours. Safin won his previous round against Felix Mantilla of Spain in five sets, and drew controversy by dropping his shorts on the first day of that match, which started Thursday, was halted by darkness and finished Friday.

Dropping shorts, saving match points. It’s turning into all Marat, all the time here. Even if the crowd had defected to Starace.

“Well, maybe they were seeing the No. 202 in the world almost beating Marat Safin on the center court. He stopped a couple of times and maybe they were upset about that,” Starace said of the medical treatment.

Unlike Safin and Starace, former champion Albert Costa of Spain and Xavier Malisse of Belgium were unable to finish their third-round match. It was stopped with Costa leading, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 5-5.

Additionally, No. 12 Lleyton Hewitt of Australia beat last year’s finalist Martin Verkerk of the Netherlands, 6-2, 3-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, in just under three hours. Verkerk had 61 unforced errors to Hewitt’s 16.

The match between Federer and Kuerten was practically a sprint compared with the others. Federer, perhaps the most graceful and nimble of players, was decidedly ungainly and never looked comfortable. For him, the red clay on the main show court may as well have been the cobblestone pathways around the grounds of the French Open.

“I tend to slide a little bit early, so I lose my balance, lose my coordination,” Federer said. “Similar to what happened today. When I turn around my backhand, hit a forehand, I’m scared I’m going to totally fall down sometimes. Twice, I almost fell. That was the problem. So I lost a little confidence in my footwork.”

Kuerten, a three-time champion here, never faced a break point after his opening service game.

Afterward, Federer found himself full of questions again. He had lost in the first round in each of the last two years and has not advanced past the quarterfinals in Paris.

“Obviously I want to know right away myself, too, why I lost, why this match was straight sets, why it was comfortable for Guga,” said Federer.

Then again, Kuerten seems reborn every time he arrives in Paris.

“For me, I should be drawing hearts all time I step out on the court by the way this tournament’s treated me,” Kuerten said.

He was referring to 2001, when he charmed the Parisian crowd by drawing a heart on the clay court after a fourth-round escape, and to his first French title in 1997.

He took a month off before this year’s tournament to rest his ailing right hip, and nearly found himself on the sideline in the first round. Kuerten beat Spanish qualifier Nicolas Almagro in five sets in the first round and was twice two points from losing.

*

Second-seeded Serena Williams defeated Silvija Talaja of Croatia, 6-0, 6-4, despite an uncharacteristic serving performance, with nine double faults, and No. 4 Venus Williams beat 2000 French Open champion Mary Pierce of France, 6-3, 6-1.

No. 7 Jennifer Capriati struggled for the second time in three matches, beating Elena Bovina of Russia, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.