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Entry system ranking: 143 (282 points (-1)) Champions Race: 126 (7 points)(-3) Current tournament: Place: Monte Carlo, Monaco Next tournament:
Place: Munich, Germany
Date: April 29 - May 5, 2002 Draw Size: 32 Surface: Clay Prize Money: US $381,000 Stadium Court Seating: 3,800 Tournament Director: Rudi Berger Website: www.iphitos.de
Thanks Ivanna for the photo! (Norman in Bueno Aires)
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MEDVEDEV AND NORMAN: OPPOSITES ATTRACTThe always entertaining Andrei Medvedev, last year's Roland Garros finalist, started his press conference by good naturedly poking fun at his more serious fourth round opponent Magnus Norman. "I'll give you a Norman-style press conference; tennis questions only," Medvedev said, laughing, following his 6-3 3-6 6-4 6-3 third round victory over qualifier Agustin Callieri of Argentina. "Playing very good, my forehand is good, backhand is good. "Head is perfect." And that was the end of that. While it is true that the No3-seeded Norman, who leads the current yearly ATP Tour points race and moved into the fourth round courtesy of an uneventful 6-4 6-1 6-2 victory over Sargis Sargsian of Armenia, usually doesn't wow the media in press conferences, Medvedev can always be relied on to say something interesting. Norman, who arrived at Roland Garros with an impressive statistic of winning 13 of his last 16 matches, which included taking his ninth singles trophy with a victory at Rome, was not at all offended by Medvedev's characterization of him. "He can think whatever he thinks about me, I don't care," Norman said. "He's a nice guy and we get along very well. If he wants to try and be funny, that maybe is his way. I mean I really enjoy being around him." Despite Medvedev's profile of Norman, the talented Swede who reached his first career Grand Slam semifinal at the Australian Open in January, he isn't always as unopinionated as the Ukrainian suggests. For one thing, as the top player remaining in contention now that Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras have jetted back to the States, Norman was more than annoyed at being assigned to a backcourt Saturday. "I'm just glad I'm playing here at the Roland Garros," Norman said. "I'm just glad they don't put me in the Boulogne Wood over there. I don't know why they put me on court ten. As I said, I'm the highest seed left in the tournament and sometimes the ATP Tour has criticized me because I'm boring at press conferences and things like that. But they don't help me. Putting me on court ten doesn't help me, you know." While his court location was Norman's one gripe of the day, Medvedev had a number of topics on tap to discuss. One of the first issues Medvedev sized up quickly, not to mention rather correctly, was the new institution of the ATP Points Race, that is meant to replace the more traditional ranking system. The Ukrainian started off mildly, just pointing out that my "next match is against Norman, the so-called number one" and went off from there to describe the new points race and its flaws by questioning the reporter who asked for his opinion of the new system. "Who is number one for you? Who is in your head number one, honestly?" Medevedev inquired. "For every guy in the locker room, there is no better player than Andre Agassi at the moment. Even with his loss at the French Open (a 2-6 7-5 6-1 6-0 second round upset by Karol Kucera), everybody still thinks that he's number one. "The race - I don't know why they did it. We're not Formula One." Norman is not as negative as Medvedev about the points race and he assures all that his opinion has nothing to do with his being on top of the charts at the moment. "I think the first half of the year, I don't look too much on the Champions Race," Norman said. "But I think from now on, I think it's going to be interesting. Like the last couple of weeks before the (year-end) Masters, I think it's going to be easier to follow, I think." Speaking about Agassi and his compatriots, Medvedev had just a word or two for the methodology the American players employ in preparing for Roland Garros - basically, he says their plan stinks. "Somehow Americans sort of disappoint me," Medvedev said. "They think they can play one tournament before, come to the French and win it again? I mean, they pull out from Rome, from Monte Carlo, from Hamburg. There's no reason. Then they come to Paris and hoping to win. I think it's silly. "It may work once by sort of accident, but never consistently. They do it consistently. It's strange for me." A man who insists "he's superstitious about not being superstitious," but nevertheless is choosing to stay in a lesser class of hotel than he would prefer because it is the same place he resided last year and made the finals, Medvedev wasn't putting himself in favorite status for this year. "I didn't think I had three matches in me, anyway," Medvedev said when asked if he can repeat his success from last year here. "But now I'm sitting here and I'm in the last sixteen. Tennis is a funny game. I thought the guy like me should never be able to make the fourth round in such a physical tournament. But somehow, I get there and my conditioning is getting better." Source: French Open |
