Huber Shows a Lot of Heart in Overcoming Her Injuries

Anke Huber didn’t hit any forehand winners at this year’s French Open. In fact, the 24-year-old German didn’t play a single point in Paris.

Still she was at Roland Garros Stadium on the last day and there in spirit before actually arriving in France. Her charismatic and quotable boyfriend, Andrei Medvedev of Ukraine, upset Pete Sampras and Gustavo Kuerten in reaching the men’s final. Along the way, he declared he was in love with Huber, and, well, he didn’t care who knew it.

It was the charming love story of the French Open and everyone who listened to Medvedev wax poetic left Paris feeling just a little bit better.

“I fell back in love twice, once with tennis, once with the girl,” he said then. “I am so happy. I don’t think anyone in the world is as happy as me.

” . . . When there is love, you’re inspired. You can write poems, you can write music, you can play good tennis.”

Medvedev lost the final to Andre Agassi in five sets, but he still felt as though he had the storybook ending because of Huber. And she spoke here Thursday about how helpless she felt, watching from the friends’ box.

“It was hard to watch him,” she said. “I was very happy he was playing in the final. I was very nervous. That was it.”

She laughed and looked a little embarrassed.

“I guess everybody is nervous if you are watching someone you like or care about,” Huber said.

Through Medvedev’s tough times, Huber encouraged him to keep playing. And likewise, he played a major role in keeping her spirits up through an injury-riddled 1999, imploring her not to quit after a series of problems with her right foot.

Huber, a finalist at the 1996 Australian Open, could have walked away, and thought of doing it. Instead, she forged ahead and took the difficult route here at the TIG Tennis Classic at the La Costa Resort and Spa, winning three qualifying matches, two of them in three sets.

Once in the main draw, she seized the opportunity, defeating eighth-seeded Nathalie Tauziat of France in the first round. And Thursday, she beat Barbara Schett of Austria in the second round, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3.

Second-seeded Martina Hingis of Switzerland is one round ahead of the others and defeated Dominique Van Roost of Belgium in convincing fashion, 6-2, 6-4. In today’s other quarterfinal, fourth-seeded Venus Williams will play Sandrine Testud of France. Testud defeated sixth-seeded Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario of Spain, 6-2, 7-5, winning 11 of the last 12 points.

Seventh-seeded Amanda Coetzer of South Africa will face Amy Frazier, and top-seeded Lindsay Davenport will meet Huber tonight in the last quarterfinal match.

This will be the third quarterfinal of the year for the 29th-ranked Huber, though one was at a small event on clay in July. Here, she beat two players ranked in the top 15. Tauziat is 10th, Schett 13th.

The last time Huber went through qualifying was at Schenectady, N.Y., in 1990. In tennis terms, that’s practically a lifetime.

“If you haven’t played qualifying for nine years, you don’t even know how it is there,” she said. “There are no umpires for the baseline or the service line. You have to prepare for it mentally.

“It was very tough, to be honest. “I guess it was the best thing that could happen to me. I played some matches and very tough ones. It’s the best decision I’ve made for a long time.”

Huber had considered quitting but wanted to give the sport one last chance.

“Definitely, yes, because when you are struggling and injured you are not having as much fun all the time. You are thinking about quitting and doing something else. I definitely had those thoughts.”

At the French Open, there was an erroneous report that Huber and Medvedev were going to get married. He made jokes about and asked the media when the wedding date was. Friday, she smiled and shook her head when asked whether they were engaged.

Though it’s hard to keep up with the often hilarious Medvedev, Huber has a subtle sense of humor herself, displaying it when she was asked about the inevitable comparisons between herself and Steffi Graf.

“It was always very difficult because everybody compared me with Steffi when I was 15 and 16 years old,” Huber said. “And I think nobody can keep up with her. She won so much. It was impossible for me to keep up with her. They are still comparing me with her.”

She paused, then said, “I guess everybody saw it after I was 18 or 19 that there’s not going to be a second Steffi anymore.”

TIG Tennis Classic

STADIUM COURT

Beginning at noon

Amanda Coetzer (7) vs. Amy Frazier

Venus Williams (4) vs. Sandrine Testud

Beginning at 7 p.m.

Lindsay Davenport vs. Anke Huber