Unexpected Pleasure for Men’s Finalists

Far from finding this the culmination of dreams and goals, both men in the French Open final happily admit they never expected to be here.

Neither Michael Stich of Germany nor Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia were counted by anyone to get through the gauntlet of clay-court specialists and higher-ranked players to the finals of a Grand Slam tournament. Stich, seeded No. 15, and Kafelnikov, seeded No. 6, could not be said to be the last players anyone would expect in the final, but they are on the list.

“This is something I never would have believed could or would happen,” Stich said. “I don’t know why it happened or how it happened, but it happened. It’s something I don’t even want to think about. I’ll just take it as it is, try to make it worthwhile to win the finals now. I’ll just put it in the cupboard and just leave it there.”

Although Stich is a longshot, he’s not an unknown, having won Wimbledon in 1991. What’s unexpected about his presence in the final is the style that brought him here. Stich is perhaps the best all-court player on the men’s tour; he’s not a pure serve-and-volleyer, but he has played like one here.

Kafelnikov, too, has a power game better suited to faster surfaces. The slow red clay courts at Roland Garros have been baked by sun for a week so that they have been playing with an astonishing speed.

It’s helpful, too, to the Russian, who holds a 6-3 head-to-head advantage against Stich.

“We’ve played many, many times,” Kafelnikov said. “I know his game perfectly. He knows my game perfectly too.”