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Entry system ranking: 143 (282 points (-1))

Champions Race: 126 (7 points)(-3)

Current tournament: 

TMS Monte Carlos

Place: Monte Carlo, Monaco
Date: April 15-21, 2002
Draw Size: 64
Surface: Clay
Prize Money: US $ 2,578,000
Stadium Court Seating: 7,000           Tournament Director: Francis Truchi        

Next tournament:

BMW Open

Thanks Ivanna for the photo! (Norman in Bueno Aires)

Visit the Official Magnus Norman Websit for weekly letters!

No Easy Match For Sweden

The second singles match of the tie between Sweden and The Czech-republic was going to be an easy match for Sweden, or so most spectators thought. They where wrong.

The first set, was a furious fight between to hard-hitting sluggers, which went to a tiebreak. The set lasted for 54 minutes. Magnus Norman took a firm grip of the tiebreak and took the lead by 6 - 1. Novak made a net approach, but his forehand volley passed Norman's base line and the tiebreak went to Norman 7- 2.

The second set was totally dominated by the Swedish No. 1 player. Now one could see that Novak hasn't been playing matches for a long time. Norman crushed the Czech and it only took 26 minutes for Norman to win the set with a 6-1 score line. "The second set was my best", said Magnus Norman. "When I play at a faster pace he doesn't follow".

Everybody in the arena was convinced that the game would soon be over. Instead Novak came back with a reply that shocked both the audience and Norman
himself. In just 23 minutes the Czech had answered by 6-1 in the third set. Captain Jan Kukal now really had his No. 2 player going. Novak kept up the pace and broke Norman twice and at the end of the fourth set he had his only ace in the entire match, 6-2 and the match went into a thrilling fifth set.

Quickly the set went to 5-1 in Norman's favour, when he suddenly lost his tempo and touch and he looked quite nervous on the court. Novak reached 5-4 and the two tired combatants went into the last game of the match where they followed each other to deuce. The first match point was Norman's and he managed to approach the net where he could make an easy volley and finally win the match.

"To play the Davies Cup is very special, said Jiri Novak afterwards. It's easier to play the best players in the world because you play with a coach".

Source: Daviscup.com