Medvedev fails in French Open final against Agassi, but moves up in tennis rankings (06/13/99)

Medvedev fails in French Open final against Agassi, but moves up in tennis rankings

by Andrij Kudla Wynnyckyj

TORONTO - Andrei Medvedev has roared back into the top-50 on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) rankings, thanks to an appearance in the final of the French Open against winner Andre Agassi of the U.S. played on June 6 on the "terre battue" clay courts of the Roland Garros tennis complex in Paris. Ukraine's tennis ace vaulted from 100th in the world prior to the second Grand Slam of the season to 30th as of June 7.

Along the way, the outspoken Kyiv-born player was the beneficiary of some Ukrainian solidarity, as pole-vaulting world-beater Sergey Bubka phoned him after every victory to offer encouragement. Mr. Bubka said he would come to Paris to watch the final if Medvedev was playing, but at press time it could not be confirmed if the track and field star had made the trip to Paris.

"Sergey has been a great supporter of mine," Mr. Medvedev told the Associated Press on June 4. "If he comes it would be fantastic, because to me he is the greatest athlete that I've ever met."

Mr. Medvedev was overpowering in the French Open final's early going, breaking Mr. Agassi's serve three times to take the first set 6-1 in a mere 19 minutes.

After Mr. Agassi took a 1-0 lead on serve in the second set, rain forced a delay that should have allowed Mr. Agassi a chance to recover his composure. He did play more strongly, but the Kyivan had answers for every shot attempted by the American and took it 6-2.

It was in the third set that the U.S. star, himself a Cinderella story at the French Open (seeded 13th, a position from which nobody had won before), finally awoke. Mr. Agassi's trademark, the best serve-return in the game, asserted itself, breaking Mr. Medvedev to take a 4-2 lead in the third. The tall Kyivan broke back, then took another game without allowing Mr. Agassi a single point on serve.

The match became a true battle of wills, after Mr. Medvedev had evened the score at 4-4. The Ukrainian pressured the American into a break point at 30-40, and was one point away from serving for the championship. However, Mr. Agassi fought back, held serve to go up 5-4, then broke Mr. Medvedev in the next game, winning the set with a gambit that has become the Russian Ukrainian's trademark: a perfectly timed dropshot.

This appeared to demoralize Mr. Medvedev, and the momentum now shifted completely to the Las Vegan. The Ukrainian repeatedly sent shots into the net as he dropped the next set 6-3.

In the fifth and deciding set Mr. Medvedev regained focus until Mr. Agassi went up a break at 3-2, as the U.S. player's screaming backhanders down the line found their mark time after time.

In the eighth game, Mr. Medvedev found himself staring at three match points for his adversary, down 15-40 with the score 5-3 for Mr. Agassi. He responded by serving his 23rd ace of the match, then blasted a backhand winner of his own to arrive at deuce. He finally clinched the point by concluding a rally with a roaring cross court shot after Mr. Agassi had fought back three times from a Medvedev advantage.

Mr. Agassi would not be denied. He began serving intensely himself. At 40-15, a kicker wide to the Kyivan's forehand was too much to handle, the return sailed long - Mr. Agassi dropped his racket, turned to his friends in the stands with arms upraised, then buried his face in his hands, overcome with emotion after having secured a gruelling 1-6, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 win.

The Kyivan showed dignity and class in defeat. He came over to embrace the new champion, and in the post-game ceremony said: "I left my heart and soul on the court. I had nothing left."

He paid tribute to his opponent: "I cannot say that losing to [Mr. Agassi] is an honor, but it's an honor to stand here with him because he made history ... I lost to a great player today."

Mr. Agassi had become only the fifth male player to have won all four Grand Slams (the Australian, French and U.S. Opens and Wimbledon) in a career.

The Kyivan also echoed this year's women's champion Steffi Graf of Germany in thanking the tournament's staff and organizers, and stood in pointed contrast to the petulance of the loser in the other final, Martina Hingis of Switzerland, who was recently fined $1,500 for her on-court antics and who had marched off into the locker room and had to be retrieved by her mother after a three-set defeat.

The road to the final

Mr. Medvedev played the role as one of the tournament's giant killers, as he was unfazed by the swirling and gusting winds that bedevilled many. The Russian Ukrainian's consistent, heavy and deep groundstrokes taken off short swings, a purposeful serve and excellently timed drop-shots brought him his best performance at a Grand Slam event in his career, and the best performance by a player of such a low rank ever at the French Open.

Ranked as high as fourth on the ATP tour five years ago, the Kyiv-born star ran into a string of injuries and, according to a June 5 article by Tom Tebbutt of the Toronto-based Globe and Mail, "got caught up in the big money of his early success and had problems being conscientious about his tennis."

Despite his height and heft (he weighs about 200 pounds), Mr. Medvedev has often been sidelined by physical mishaps. According to an Associated Press report of June 2, the Kyivan's career has been "a series of shuttles between tennis courts, hospitals and physical therapy. During the past six years, he's had knee surgery, a fractured wrist, back injuries, shoulder problems and more."

To reach the championship's deciding match, Mr. Medvedev, who was unseeded at the outset, defeated perennial world No 1. Pete Sampras of the U.S. 7-5, 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the second round, and 1997 French Open Champion Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil 7-5, 6-4, 6-4 in the quarterfinal.

Mr. Medvedev was modest about the shocking ease of his dispatching of Mr. Sampras, saying the American was at his weakest on clay. (Despite his overwhelming success elsewhere, Mr. Sampras once again failed to achieve what his compatriot finally managed this year.)

However, a week later after the match, Mr. Medvedev admitted that he was inspired by his triumph that day. "Beating Pete, it doesn't matter if it's on clay or mud or water," he said. "You beat him in backgammon, you feel good."

The other victories included 6-3, 6-1, 6-1 over Romania's Dinu Pescariu in the first round, 6-1, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 over Byron Black of the U.S. in the third, and 7-6, 7-6, 6-1 over Arnaud Di Pasquale of France in the fourth.

Prior to his hard-fought semifinal win, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6), over Brazil's Fernando Meligeni, he couldn't sleep and during the match itself had to be assisted by his trainer to overcome cramps, dizziness and nausea.

Help from friends and love

According to NBC and USA Network commentator John McEnroe, two months ago Mr. Medvedev wondered whether he should quit the game altogether after a dismal performance at a tournament in Monte Carlo, but then was put back on track by his friends. Mr. McEnroe, who affectionately refers to the 24-year-old professional as "the big Ukrainian," related that one of Mr. Medvedev's greatest supporters in his eye-opening run to the French Open championship game was his opponent in the final, Mr. Agassi.

But the factor that got the Kyivan the most press was a resurgence in his romance with German tennis player Anke Huber.

After his victory over Mr. Kuerten, Steve Wilstein of AP wrote: "Love means nothing in tennis, and yet for Andrei Medvedev it means everything. In this most romantic of cities, where lovers kiss under every lamppost, Medvedev is fairly glowing as he finds himself in the French Open semifinals and back in the arms of [Ms. Huber]."

"He's changed coaches and he's changed girlfriends, but the one he keeps coming back to is Huber," Mr. Wilstein wrote. "When they decided to get together again a couple of months ago after a long separation, Medvedev knew the relationship was unique. I don't want to offend anybody that I've ever been with before, but there is something special about Anke,' Medvedev said. 'Otherwise, we wouldn't be coming back to each other all the time.' "

The Kyivan told reporters at a June 2 press conference: "At the moment ... I'm very happy because my private life is settled. We're not getting married, at least this year. We'll leave it at that."

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