Friends to Become Brief Enemies
Friends to Become Brief Enemies
by Andrew Wu
Saturday, 21 January, 2006
France will have a representative in the quarter-finals of Australian Open
2006 after Sebastien Grosjean and Paul-Henri Mathieu overcame sweltering
heat at Melbourne Park to set up a fourth-round clash.
As temperatures soared into the mid 30s on the way to a top of 40, Grosjean
outlasted 2004 French Open runner-up Guillermo Coria in four sets, while
Mathieu won two tie-breaks on his way to a straight-sets victory over
Peruvian Luis Horna.
The pair joins veteran compatriot Fabrice Santoro in the fourth-round,
making France the only nation to have three men left in the round of 16.
While the French have not had a male Grand Slam winner since Yannick Noah
triumphed in his home major in 1983, their showing thus far at Melbourne
Park is evidence of the great depth of their male playing ranks.
France has nine men ranked in the top 100, and boasted 11 players in the
men's draw which, along with Spain, is more than any other nation.
"There's many French players at the beginning of the tournament, plus a
few guys who qualify," said Grosjean. "It's great to see many, many players,
especially from France, doing well here."
Mathieu said the depth in French tennis was beneficial to the nation's
hopes in the Davis Cup, a competition it has won three times in the past
15 years.
"It's good for us. We hope we have more players in the top 30. We look
forward to it," Mathieu said.
While Mathieu and Grosjean are good friends, the pair has not played
against each other before and both agree that they will enter their
fourth-round clash with mixed emotions.
"It's going to be tough for sure," said Mathieu, the world No.47.
"It's never easy to play a friend but it's going to be a nice match."
Grosjean added: "It's going to be strange but you have to deal with it."
Unlike Mathieu, who will be gunning for his first Grand Slam quarter-finals
berth, Grosjean has been a semi-finalist at three of the four majors -
missing out only at the US Open - and Melbourne Park is one of his favourite
venues.
"I like to play here. It's the first major of the year," the world No.28
said. "I did well in the past. It's a great condition. I like the atmosphere
here. I like the people who come and watch."
For Mathieu, even if he doesn't beat his friend, he will still leave
Melbourne Park in good spirits.
"It's exciting because one Frenchman is going to be in the quarters so
it's good for us."
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