All-Spanish Victory at French Open

PARIS -- Alberto Berasategui had the crazy grip and feral forehand, but like so many others before him he did not have the stamina to withstand his friend Sergi Bruguera.In the first all-Spanish Grand Slam tournament final, Bruguera, 23, turned a close match into a routine victory Sunday to win the men's French Open title, 6-3, 7-5, 2-6, 6-1.It happened with the flick of a wrist in the second set when No. 23 Berasategui, 20, took a 4-1 lead but was broken twice and lost 7-5. Berasategui could not find the lines that he so effectively hit in reaching the final without losing a set.Bruguera tamed the game's most feared forehand by running it into the ground with his inclination to turn clay- court tennis into a marathon."To control the forehand of Alberto is impossible," Bruguera said. "But you don't have to be afraid of it. I know his weaknesses."Thus, No. 6 Bruguera won his second consecutive French Open championship to become Spain's first two-time French champion since Manuel Santana in 1961 and 1964.In winning the first set after taking a 3-1 lead, Bruguera roamed the baseline trading groundstrokes with the hard-hitting Basque. The rallies were long. It was not unusual for them to exchange 26 strokes before an error.That was fine with Bruguera, who can stay on the clay all day batting the ball. But although Bruguera becomes the world's best clay-court player with his convincing victory, he still has to prove himself as one of the greats.Except for losing in the first round of the U.S. Open last August, Bruguera had not played in a Grand Slam tournament since winning the French Open last year, defeating Courier in five sets.Some have suggested he isn't a true star because of his lack of major tournament victories, but Bruguera has dismissed such criticism.Agusti Pujol, president of the Spanish Tennis Federation, said the French Open is the most important Grand Slam tournament for his players because they grow up playing on clay."We don't have to justify why Bruguera did not go to Wimbledon" last year, he said.Bruguera will appear on the lawn later this month, but he is already downplaying his chances. Berasategui, however, will skip Wimbledon.But few thought he could advance so far in Paris. His coach, Javier Durate, tried to drum up publicity for him by taking him around to newspaper and television reporters this spring. "Now everybody talks about him," Durate said. "I knew his moment would arrive."It did indeed, although he had to share it with Bruguera and all of Spain.About the only mistake Spain's Arantxa Sanchez Vicario made at Roland Garros Stadium was an innocent one. After winning the French Open women's title Sunday by turning hard-hitting Mary Pierce into merely another error-prone player, Sanchez Vicario, speaking in English, thanked the queen of Spain. She meant King Juan Carlos I, as Queen Sofia was not among the 17,000 at Center Court who witnessed Sanchez Vicario's 6-4, 6-4 victory on a windswept day in Paris. The Spanish forgive her indiscretion because they are too busy celebrating their ascent to the top of the tennis world. For the first time, a Spanish man and woman have won the same Grand Slam tournament. Spain's grip on the French Open was ensured Sunday when Sanchez Vicario defeated Pierce with defensive strokes that left her looking unsure for the first time in two weeks."I think I was more mentally strong than she was," Sanchez Vicario said. "I just waited for my opportunities."Pierce, playing for France because her mother, Yannick, is French, reached the final by losing a record-low 12 games in six matches. Possessing the hardest-hitting forehand in women's tennis, she flattened opponents with ease.But she looked nervous Saturday when three games were completed before rain stopped the match. Pierce led 2-1 and was playing for a break point.When play resumed Sunday, Pierce took under a minute to take a 3-1 lead with a backhand winner for the break. But it already was apparent she was not going to roll past Sanchez Vicario the way she did the others in Paris. Serving for a 4-1 lead, Pierce failed to convert three game points -- each time on errors provoked by Sanchez Vicario.Unlike her previous six opponents, Sanchez Vicario was absolutely steadfast in forcing Pierce into long rallies. It was a strategy that earned Sanchez Vicario her second major title. She won the 1989 French Open when she was 17, and has finished second in three other Grand Slam tournaments.The fifth game was a 15-minute struggle won by Sanchez Vicario when Pierce hit a backhand wide on the fourth break point. The next time she served, Pierce held off five break points to take a 4-3 lead, but her confidence was shaken. Then Pierce, 19, did something her coach told her not to: she started to think. Instead of serving confidently, Pierce slowly bounced the ball and tossed it in the air. Inevitably her first serve was long, and one of her vital weapons was rendered useless.