Ivanisevic Ousted, Larsson Advances
02 June 1994
PARIS -- Alberto Berasategui routed No. 5 seed Goran Ivanisevic and Magnus Larsson saved six match points while rallying from a two-set deficit as the two unseeded players won French Open quarterfinals Wednesday.Their match-up Friday will be the first semifinal here between non-seeds since 1973.Larsson capitalized on a late-match collapse by 19-year-old Hendrik Dreekmann of Germany, who was on the brink of becoming one of the least-expected semifinalists in tournament history. He unraveled after failing to convert six match points in the third set, enabling the Swede to win 3-6, 6-7 (1-7), 7-6 (7-3), 6-0, 6-1.Berasategui, ranked 23rd, offset Ivanisevic's stronger serves with blistering ground strokes, but won mostly because of 69 unforced errors committed by the Croatian. The 20-year-old Spaniard needed just 1 hour, 36 minutes to win the match, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3.Berasategui and Larsson will play Friday in what will be the first Grand Slam semifinal for each. The winner will be the first non-seeded finalist here since Mikael Performs in 1986 and will be an underdog against either defending champion Sergi Bruguera or Jim Courier, the 1991 and 1992 champion.Larsson had never before rallied from a two-set deficit to win."I was lucky, very lucky," he said. "On the match points, I didn't think of winning the match, I just wanted to play my last points of the tournament well."Larsson, 24, turned pro in 1989 and has won four events, but only once before reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam -- losing to Wally Masur in last year's U.S. Open.During the first two sets, he appeared totally outmatched by Dreekmann, who displayed agility, a strong forehand and remarkable confidence.But Larsson turned the match around in the third set by coming up with superb first serves to save two match points in the 10th game and four in 12th. He won the tiebreaker easily, and Dreekmann offered little opposition in the last two sets."I didn't know what to do after the third set," said a disappointed Dreekmann. "I didn't have any chance... I couldn't do anything."Larsson ended with 19 aces and only three double faults, compared to five aces and 11 double faults for Dreekmann.While Larsson has a chance at further glory Friday, world No. 1 Pete Sampras must wait another year.On Tuesday, Sampras' aim to make tennis history was laid to rest on the parched red clay, where the harder the world's player hit the ball, the harder he fell.Attempting to become the first man in 25 years to win four consecutive Grand Slam tournaments, Sampras misplayed the big points in a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 loss to Courier.Courier's record against Sampras had been dismal.With a chance to join Don Budge and Rod Laver as the only men to hold all the major titles simultaneously, Sampras was hoping for a breakthrough this week after losing in the quarterfinals here the previous two years.Instead, he lost for the first time in 26 Grand Slam matches, giving a performance that if not quite lackluster, was definitely lacking."I'm kind of down and disappointed," Sampras said. Although Sampras had lost only twice this year, he was not necessarily the favorite. Courier has a 25-1 record at Roland Garros since 1991.His play against Sampras could be one of those moments that turns a player's career. Once the world's No. 1 player, Courier has struggled for the past year as his intensity dropped along with his interest. (AP, LAT)
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