A French Door Gets Slammed on Agassi

Andre Agassi waited for Sebastien Grosjean to turn into Arnaud Clement, Franco Squillari, Carlos Moya, Andrei Medvedev or even Fernando Meligeni.

Or how about Grosjean simply behaving like his usual self?

It never happened, and the 10th-seeded Grosjean defeated No. 3 Agassi, 1-6, 6-1, 6-1, 6-3, in a French Open quarterfinal Wednesday, ending Agassi’s quest for a Grand Slam.

So often, Agassi’s success at Roland Garros came by controlled aggression and attrition. Two years ago, Clement, Squillari, Moya and Medvedev had Agassi down and nearly out of the tournament. Agassi watched them occupy a rarefied level, expecting they would eventually turn mortal.

It happened this year with Squillari, again, and Meligeni. Grosjean found the zone against Agassi Wednesday in front of a sellout Center Court crowd, which included former President Bill Clinton.

While Grosjean was impressive, almost everyone, including Agassi, remembered how the jittery Frenchman blew three match points against countryman Clement in the Australian Open semifinals in January.

The door did open slightly in the fourth set, but Agassi couldn’t quite summon the moxie and muscle to push through. Grosjean regained his nerve, firing an ace on match point to win in 1 hour 49 minutes.

“Just ran out of time,” a terse Agassi said.

In the semifinals, Grosjean will play No. 13 Alex Corretja of Spain, who beat Roger Federer of Switzerland, 7-5, 6-4, 7-5.

Agassi, who won the Australian Open, had reason to feel he could complete the second leg of the Grand Slam, having won here in 1999. Even though the minimalist approach worked in Paris two years ago, Agassi clearly couldn’t get away with only four matches on clay before this French Open.

Grosjean, on the other hand, had played 15 matches on clay before Roland Garros, reaching the semifinals at Monte Carlo.

“It was amazing to finish the match on an ace,” he said. “I saw everybody stand up. It was really great, emotional. You feel very well on the court and you don’t want to leave the court. To play on this court is a dream.”

Unlike so many others who faltered against Agassi on Center Court, Grosjean started slowly and raised the level of his game, rather than starting strong and dropping off. He kept Agassi off balance with a blend of power and speed, pounding his forehand for winners and catching Agassi with backhands down the line.

“It was strange because sometimes he hits the ball really hard, but you know, like tanking sometimes,” Grosjean said. “I started to play better after, so maybe he was not really happy the way of the game wasn’t like the first set.”

Still, Agassi had one last chance. He broke Grosjean to open the fourth set and had two break points in the third game, which would have given him a 3-0 lead. But Grosjean saved one with a second-serve ace and Agassi floated a backhand return long on a weak second serve, only 71 mph by Grosjean.

Later, Grosjean served for the match at 5-3 and won with the ace. He raised his hands in jubilation after becoming the first French male to reach the semifinals here since Cedric Pioline in 1998.

Agassi’s display of speed in getting off the court was impressive, moving so quickly the security guard had to sprint to keep up. In the interview room, he was clipped and bitter and started to leave before the questioning finished, having to sit back down again.

“I thought he played real well, so I wasn’t shocked,” Agassi said. “Hard to be shocked when every game is so decisively won.”

How much higher had his expectations been coming here?

“About three matches higher,” he said. “Three matches would have been nice, three more.”

Agassi wanted to go into the interview room immediately--which usually is not a problem--but Corretja was already there. To accommodate Agassi, officials moved Corretja, who was irritated by the treatment, calling it “pathetic.”

As for Agassi, his close friend and trainer Gil Reyes didn’t know if anything was wrong with him physically. His usually talkative coach Brad Gilbert looked angry in the player lounge.

“Don’t ask me anything,” Gilbert said.

The most loquacious observer turned out to be Clinton. He was making his way through the players’ lounge after the match and stopped to chat with five American reporters. This was the first clay-court match he had attended and he marveled at the ability of Grosjean.

“I don’t know if anyone could have beaten him today,” Clinton said. “The things he caught, the number of times he made shots under adverse situations, it was very impressive. It was amazing. He’s young. He’s got great legs. He was on today.”

The dramatic turnarounds coincided with the appearance and departure of Clinton. He showed up after Agassi won the first set, 6-1, in 22 minutes. Agassi promptly lost the second and third sets, at one point winning only one of 11 games. Clinton left after the third set and Agassi briefly rallied.

Clinton laughed about the jinx.

“I was bad for him,” he said. “I was really bad luck. When I left, he won three games. I hated to come back.”

Agassi, though it was hard to believe, said he didn’t see Clinton. Grosjean joked about Clinton’s appearance working out for him.

“At least for me it was very good because from then on I played very well,” he said.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Men’s Semifinalists

Previous meetings of men’s semifinalists, who play Friday:

GUSTAVO KUERTEN (1) VS. JUAN CARLOS FERRERO (4)

* 2000 French Open, clay-outdoor semifinalsKuerten wins, 7-5, 4-6, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.

* 2001 TMS-Roma, clay-outdoor finalsFerrero wins, 3-6, 6-1, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.

SEBASTIEN GROSJEAN (10) VS. ALEX CORRETJA (13)

* No previous matches.

FRENCH OPEN SEMIFINAL MATCHUPS

Women--Today

* Martina Hingis (1) vs. Jennifer Capriati (4). Hingis leads in previous matches, 5-2

* Kim Clijsters (12) vs. Justine Henin (14). Henin leads in previous matches, 2-1.

Television

* Semifinals--Today, 5 a.m., USA.

* Final--Saturday, 11 a.m., Ch. 4

Men--Friday

* Gustavo Kuerten (1) vs. Juan Carlos Ferrero (4). They have split two previous matches

* Sebastien Grosjean (10) vs. Alex Corretja (13). First meeting

Television

* Semifinals--Friday, 7 a.m., Ch. 4 and 1 p.m., USA.

* Final--Sunday, 6 a.m., Ch. 4

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