Puerta, Davydenko Enjoy High-Five Moments

Yeah, it was a great day to play five at the French Open.

Twice.

Argentine buddies Guillermo Canas and Mariano Puerta simply couldn’t get enough of each other Wednesday in the men’s quarterfinals. For 3 hours 35 minutes, they traded groundstroke blows on the clay court, and Puerta rallied from a two-sets-to-one deficit, defeating the ninth-seeded Canas, 6-2, 3-6, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Then, No. 12 Nikolay Davydenko of Russia and No. 15 Tommy Robredo of Spain nearly equaled the Argentines on the clock, going 3:17. The nervous Davydenko, who double-faulted on break point to lose the fourth set, steadied himself enough to beat Robredo, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.

Davydenko won despite a seeming fear of the net in the latter stages, as he was unwilling to come forward on any short ball. It took him four nerve-wracking match points to put it away, securing the semifinal berth when Robredo, going for a shot down the line, hit a backhand wide.

It will be the first Grand Slam semifinal for Puerta and Davydenko. They will play the undercard Friday to the marquee matchup between top-seeded Roger Federer of Switzerland and No. 4 Rafael Nadal of Spain.

So who are these little-known semifinalists?

Puerta has had previous exposure in the spotlight, not all of it good. He tested positive for the banned anabolic agent clenbuterol at a tournament in 2003 at Vina del Mar, Chile.

Two of his Argentine colleagues, Juan Ignacio Chela and last year’s French Open finalist Guillermo Coria, also tested positive for banned substances, and served significant suspensions, Chela for methyltestosterone and Coria for nandrolone.

Puerta’s suspension was for nine months, starting in October 2003. This is his first Grand Slam event since the 2003 U.S. Open. He did not appear to display any bitterness over the controversy.

“Well, when I think back about the time I was not playing, it was a bit difficult,” he said, according to the translation. “It was hard time to go through. It’s very strange not to be allowed to play tennis....

“I had to work very hard to come back, and my way of playing tennis requires consuming a lot of energy.”

Canas, one of the best retrievers in the game, can attest to that. The players have known each other since childhood. This was their second match on the main professional tour.

Davydenko, like Puerta, went to his deepest reserves to prevail. He is on a 10-match winning streak, coming off a pre-French Open title in St. Polten, Austria. Today is his 24th birthday, and he made a point to mention his older brother, Eduard, who is perhaps the biggest influence on his tennis life. Nikolay was born in Ukraine, moved to Russia at age 10, and then went to live in Germany with Eduard and his wife at age 15.

“Tomorrow I have birthday,” said an exhausted Davydenko. “Tomorrow, OK, no match. Day off for me is good. Because I [make] my present now for my brother here today. He is 35, and I won today’s match. Still reach semifinal. For him, is good present.

“Is good for me I didn’t play my match on my birthday. If I lose, I really don’t like on my birthday to play tennis.”