Unseeded Edberg Refuses to Go Quietly

As the shadows on the Stadium Court lengthened Tuesday evening, so did the U.S. Open career of Stefan Edberg.

The unseeded Edberg, a veteran in the twilight of his career, fended off the determined efforts of 21-year-old Tim Henman in a fourth-round match that lasted 3 hours 5 minutes. Edberg won, 6-7 (7-2), 7-6 (7-2), 6-4, 6-4.

Edberg broke Henman in the ninth game of the fourth set to put himself in the position of serving for the match. In fitting style, Edberg won it with an ace.

Henman is a fine grass-court player and at Wimbledon this year became the first British player in 23 years to reach the quarterfinals. But his lack of experience cost him here, as did his inability to counter Edberg’s serve-and-volley game.

After winning, the normally reserved Swede thrust his fist into the air and accepted the warm cheers of the crowd. The last time Edberg, 30, got as far as the quarterfinals here he won the tournament, in 1992.

Edberg was asked if he is playing as well now as he did four years ago. The question elicited a wry smile.

“I don’t think so,” he said. “I think there’s room for improvement. Now starts the tough matches, but I have nothing to lose.”

Edberg’s quarterfinal opponent will be fourth-seeded Goran Ivanisevic. The Croatian defeated Andrei Medvedev, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-2).

During his match, Ivanisevic griped about his two favorite dislikes: umpires and the United States. He complained to the chair umpire regarding a line call, “Don’t give me that . . . ,” he said. “Only in America, you have the worst of everything, the worst umpires. Look at them.”

That notwithstanding, Ivanisevic is delighted with his best showing at the Open.

“I say that if I reach the second week, I can do a lot of damage in this tournament,” he said. “That’s what I’m doing now. I’m playing better and better every match. Whoever wants to beat me, the guy has to play unbelievable.”

For his part, Medvedev announced a new policy of not talking to reporters about anything other than tennis, lest it sap his strength.

“I know what I am here for, I’m here to play tennis,” the Ukrainian said. “I’m not here to talk to anybody. Talking about things other than tennis will just disconcentrate me. I’m here to play tennis only, not to talk about my private life or any other things. It takes a lot of energy to talk about other things.”

In women’s quarterfinals, second-seeded Monica Seles defeated Amanda Coetzer, 6-0, 6-3, and fourth-seeded Conchita Martinez defeated Linda Wild, 7-6 (8-6), 6-0.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Featured Matches

Today’s featured matches at the U.S. Open:

DAY SESSION

Beginning 8 a.m. PDT

STADIUM COURT

* Men--Javier Sanchez vs. No. 2 Michael Chang.

* Women--No. 1 Steffi Graf vs. Judith Wiesner; No. 16 Martina Hingis vs. No. 7 Jana Novotna.

NIGHT SESSION

Beginning 4:30 p.m. PDT

STADIUM COURT

* Men--No. 6 Andre Agassi vs. No. 3 Thomas Muster.