TENNIS FRENCH OPEN : Edberg Derailed Again, Loses to Medvedev

How many more chances to win the French Open will Stefan Edberg have? One? Two?

And then what?

“It’s out the window,” Edberg said.

In search of the only Grand Slam tournament title he has never won, Edberg had the door slammed in his face Thursday by Andrei Medvedev, a quirky Ukrainian teen-ager who accepts wine as a tournament prize, fills autograph requests by handing out pre-signed index cards, nuzzles microphones with his nose and relies on advice from his coach’s 4-year-old son.

Other than that, Medvedev is your typical French Open semifinalist, which is what he became after ruining another try by Edberg for the world’s top clay-court prize, 6-0, 6-7 (7-3), 7-5, 6-4 in 2 hours 36 minutes over parts of two days.

Although it was hardly a satisfying result for Edberg, who nevertheless pulled himself together after losing the first set in 16 minutes Wednesday before it rained, Medvedev’s brilliance was indisputable.

The 18-year-old from Kiev broke Edberg’s serve seven times, tortured him with tantalizing lobs and closed out the match at 40-0 with one of Edberg’s favorite moves--a hard serve followed up by a forehand volley into the open court.

“Passing Stefan is very important step for me, but you know, Sergi is not easy at all,” said Medvedev, who plays Sergi Bruguera in the semifinals today. Jim Courier plays Richard Krajicek in the other semifinal.

It’s just the way 4-year-old Sasha Dolgopolov, the son of Medvedev’s coach, Alexander Dolgopolov, had it planned while talking at breakfast.

“(Sasha) said we have already beaten Stefan at the Stuttgart . . . so you win today and I said, yeah, sure, then he says that, ‘Oh, Bruguera, don’t worry because you beat him three times,’ ” Medvedev said.

“The last things he said, Courier, it is tough, but it is possible. I said, well, thank you very much. I wish it happens like that.”

It didn’t happen for Edberg. He missed his chance to join the semifinal group for a couple of reasons, among them a balky serve that produced only two aces and seven double-faults. He also had extreme problems tracking down Medvedev’s lobs.

Medvedev had five lob winners in all, the biggest of them landing just inside the baseline, giving him a break and a 6-5 lead in the third set. Medvedev scored with another lob winner to set up set point, which he promptly converted when Edberg sailed a forehand long.

After careful consideration, Medvedev said they were probably the lobs of his life.

“He was getting too close to the net in his previous matches, and I knew that without lobs, I have no chance,” Medvedev said. “I knew at key points I had to make a few lobs.”

From where Edberg stood, the lobs always looked the same: “He hit the ball very quick and just above my racket.”

Edberg seemed ill at ease for most of the match and, trailing two sets to one in the fourth set, he had no margin for error. But he goofed anyway.

Serving at 4-4, Edberg held game point, but mis-hit a high volley into the net and then watched Medvedev guide a backhand pass down the line to set up break point. Medvedev cracked a first-serve return at Edberg’s feet, and Edberg awkwardly volleyed the ball into the net.

All that was left was for Medvedev to serve out the match, which he did with ease, sending Edberg to the locker room shaking his head.

“What can I say?” Edberg said. “I did what I could. I didn’t play well enough.”

So ended the 10th French Open for Edberg, who for all his trying has reached the semifinals only once. That was in 1989, when he lost to Michael Chang in the final.

“I was on the right track, but Andrei Medvedev stopped me today,” he said. “OK, today was a match where it really didn’t go my way. I give myself another year or two where I actually have a chance to win the French Open. Maybe one of these years it can actually happen.”