Norman Doesn’t Let Anyone Ruin His Day

Magnus Norman handled it all on a tempestuous day at the French Open.

The No. 3-seeded Swede faced another snub (a non-Court Central appearance), rain delays and an enigmatic opponent, Andrei Medvedev of Ukraine.

But Norman hardly faltered Monday, losing only six points in the first set of a 6-0, 6-4, 6-2 fourth-round victory at Roland Garros.

The match was delayed 2 1/2 hours because of bad weather with Norman leading, 4-1, in the third set, but he was unfazed.

“There’s not much you can do; you can’t go shopping at Champs-Elysees,” Norman said, smiling.

He will play Marat Safin of Russia in the quarterfinals. The No. 12-seeded Safin defeated No. 6 Cedric Pioline of France, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, 7-5. The victory put Safin in his first Grand Slam quarterfinal.

Two other fourth-round matches were not completed and are scheduled to be finished today. Franco Squillari of Argentina was leading No. 15 Younes El Aynaoui of Morocco, 6-4, 6-1, 3-3, and Albert Costa of Spain was ahead of No. 9 Lleyton Hewitt of Australia, 6-3, 4-4.

The tournament will certainly miss Medvedev’s wit. Once again, last year’s finalist offered The World According to Andrei. In particular, he took aim at Wimbledon and what he perceived as its elitist attitudes.

“The people treat you bad there,” he said. “There is practically no motivation to play Wimbledon whatsoever. All the history, that’s rubbish, excuses people use. There is much more history at Roland Garros and much more pleasure to fight and play than at Wimbledon.

” . . . Maybe other guys see it as the greatest tournament in the world. Not me. The surface is bad. It’s unfortunate the ATP made the rule that everybody has to play it. Normally, I would take the two weeks off and get ready for something more serious.”

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For the first time in his career, Andre Agassi has accepted a wild-card entry in the pre-Wimbledon tuneup event, the Stella Artois Grass Court Championships at Queen’s in London. His decision seems to reflect a serious mind-set in his approach to Wimbledon.

Agassi and Pete Sampras were criticized at the French Open by Medvedev for not entering more European clay-court tournaments before arriving in Paris. Agassi lost in the second round, Sampras in the first, here.

Queen’s will feature the top three players in the world: Agassi, Sampras and Norman. Sampras received a wild-card spot.

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Today’s Featured Matches

Schedule of matches on the show courts involving seeded players at the $10.25-million French Open at Roland Garros:

COURT CENTRAL

* Albert Costa, Spain, vs. Lleyton Hewitt (9), Australia

* Gustavo Kuerten (5), Brazil, vs. Yevgeny Kafelnikov (4), Russia

* Alex Corretja (10), Spain, vs. Juan Carlos Ferrero (16), Spain

* Alexandra Fusai and Nathalie Tauziat (6), France, vs. Mariaan De Swardt, South Africa, and Martina Navratilova

COURT SUZANNE LENGLEN

* Franco Squillari, Argentina, vs. Younes El Aynaoui (15), Morocco

* Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario (8), Spain, vs. Venus Williams (4)

* Martina Hingis (1), Switzerland, vs. Chanda Rubin

* Monica Seles (3) vs. Mary Pierce (6), France

* Conchita Martinez (5), Spain, vs. Marta Marrero, Spain