No.16 seed Sebastien Grosjean assumed an air of
invincibility late Monday night, when he conquered the highest remaining [No.4] seed,
Swedish battleship Magnus Norman in four sets 7-6[7] 6-3 0-6 6-4.
The diminutive Frenchman employed a gritty, counterpunching style to detonate the Norman
artillery in an epic three-hour marathon that finished with a controversial ace just after
midnight.
The emphatic win propels Grosjean into the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam for the first
time, and represents the only the third time in the Open era that the top four men's seeds
of a Grand Slam have been missing from the quarterfinals.
"It was one of my goals this season to do so well in a Grand Slam and I have done it
in the first one," said the ecstatic Frenchman.
In a drama-filled final point, Grosjean served what appeared to be an ace for the match,
before umpire Mike Morrissey called a 'let', leaping from his chair to inform the two
players who were already shaking hands at the net.
The pair then engaged in a brief conversation before Norman gracefully acknowledged the
service winner.
"Magnus said he didn't hear and gave me the point which was nice. That has never
happened to me on match point before," said the 22-year-old Grosjean, who outgunned
the shaky Swede with a clever mix of wide-angled groundstrokes and carefully placed
volleys.
The fleet-footed Grosjean scrambled from side to side of Rod Laver Arena, frustrating the
big Swede on his way to a blistering 46 winners.
Norman, the 2000 French Open finalist, was left to rue a handful of missed opportunities,
including four set points in the first set [three when Norman served for the set at 5-3,
and one during the tiebreak].
Down 2-5 in the second set, the 24-year-old Swede took a 'medical time-out' to enable the
tournament trainer to change taping on his right foot. The No.4 seed blitzed the third set
in 29 minutes before dropping two crucial service games in the fourth.
"There was no let. I couldn't take the point. At the end of the day when I leave the
court and go home I want to feel good about myself. My mother always taught me to never
give up but to play by the rules. I think she would be proud of me," said Norman,
adding that "it would be difficult to give" the ATP Sportsmanship Award for 2001
"to anyone else".
"Today I played a bad match and I had to pay the price. I should have won the first
set. I just made too many mistakes and I'm very disappointed."
Prior to Monday night, the Frenchman was one of only two men yet to lose a set in this
tournament [countryman Arnaud Clement carries that distinguished title solely into the
next round]. Next up, Grosjean will face 1997 finalist, the in-form Carlos Moya.
"I have played him twice before - at the French Open when he beat me and at Key
Biscayne. It will be an extremely tough match," admitted Grosjean.
