Fri, May 28, 2004 page23

• Top players knocked out

  FRENCH OPEN Justice Henin-Hardenne and Andy Roddick joined the ranks of the vanquished after only the second round during the Grand Slam tournmane in Paris

  • AP
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  Rusty, rattled and still recovering from a viral ailment, top-ranked Justine Henin-Hardenne lost in the second round of the French Open on Wednesday.

  The Belgian's bid for a second straight Roland Garros title ended when she was upset by Tathiana Garbin 7-5, 6-4. Henin-Hardenne's departure matched the earliest by a defending women's champion.

  Also eliminated was No. 2-seeded Andy Roddick, who lost to Frenchman Olivier Mutis 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-2. Roddick's record at Roland Garros in the past three years fell to 1-3.

  

  Shinobu Asagoe of Japan returns to Patty Schnyder of Switzerland during the French Open at Roland Garros in Paris, Thursday.

  PHOTO: AFP

  Henin-Hardenne's match was just her second following a six-week layoff. She was sidelined April 10 by an illness that left her tired and dizzy, and decided just last week she was healthy enough to try to defend the title she won last year.

  She said she didn't regret the decision, despite her sluggish, tentative performance.

  "I was really nervous," Henin-Hardenne said. "I wasn't moving well; I was late all the time. I couldn't play my game. It's frustrating, but it's the choice I made."

  Roddick's erratic effort showed he's still learning how to play on clay. The reigning US Open champion blew an easy volley to lose serve in the opening game of the final set, then began to play too aggressively. He became increasingly dispirited as his mistakes mounted and fell behind 5-0.

  "I was waffling," Roddick acknowledged. "I wasn't decisive enough. I wasn't sticking with things I wanted to do."

  Mutis, a 26-year-old Frenchman ranked 125th, served his 10th ace to close out the victory. It was just the second five-set win of his career, and it delighted the small crowd watching the final match of the day at Court Suzanne Lenglen.

  "He was a different player the latter part of the match than he was at the beginning," Roddick said. "That was my fault that I let him back into the match."

  Cool, damp evening conditions cost Roddick some of his power. He hit 15 aces but lost his serve nine times in a match that lasted more than three hours.

  No. 27-seeded Vince Spadea was also beaten, leaving no American in the men's draw midway through the second round. Spadea, who erased nine match points in a first-round victory, lost to Julien Jeanpierre 6-4, 6-2, 7-5.

  Henin-Hardenne had won the past two Grand Slam tournaments -- last year's US Open and this year's Australian Open. But against Garbin, a 26-year-old Italian ranked 86th, Henin-Hardenne double-faulted 10 times and converted only four of 18 break-point chances.

  "It was my bad day, and it was her great day," Henin-Hardenne said. "I wasn't the player I've been the last 12 months."

  The upset opens one half of the draw for No. 3-seeded Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo, and it means no Roland Garros rematch between Henin-Hardenne and No. 2 Serena Williams. Their semifinal last year left Williams in tears after she complained about calls, drew jeers from the crowd and lost to Henin-Hardenne.

  Garbin will next play Zheng Jie, who matched the best showing by a Chinese woman in a Grand Slam event by reaching the third round when she beat No. 31 Emilie Loit 6-4, 6-1. Li Fang made the third round at the 1992 Australian Open.

  Mauresmo beat Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-0, 4-6, 6-1. No. 5 Lindsay Davenport beat Maria Sanchez Lorenzo 6-4, 6-1

  Frenchman Fabrice Santoro, who won the longest match of the Open era in the opening round, played for the third day in a row and survived another marathon, beating Irakli Labadze 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2.

  Garbin kept Henin-Hardenne off balance, driving her into the corners and mixing in well-timed drop-shot winners. And the Italian was repeatedly better on the big points.

  Garbin completed the upset with a backhand pass down the line, then sank to her knees grinning. She's into the third round at a major event for the first time since 2000, the year she won her only tournament title.

  "I never played like this. I can't believe it," she said. "She's still the first in the world, so I'm just happy to have won today."

  The only other defending women's champion to lose in the second round was Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, beaten in 1990 by Mercedes Paz.

  The match was played in cloudy, cool weather, and light rain fell at the end. Henin-Hardenne fell behind 4-1 and failed to convert her first nine break-point chances, but she rallied and served for the set at 5-4. She double-faulted to lose the game, and serving at 5-6, she double-faulted again and lost at love.

  Henin-Hardenne trailed 2-0 in the second set, then won four consecutive games. She double-faulted to lose her serve for 4-all, then double-faulted again in the final game to reach match point.

  Andy Roddick's exit from the French Open on Wednesday made him the last of 10 Americans to leave the tournament.

  "This hasn't been our place for a couple of years now," Roddick said after his 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-2 loss to Frenchman Olivier Mutis.

  In the Open era, the only other Grand Slams tournaments where no American men made it to the third round where the 1972 and 1973 Australian Opens, which no Americans entered.

  No. 6 Andre Agassi's shock first-round loss to 271st-ranked Jerome Haehnel on Monday set the tone.

  Haehnel, who had never won a Tour match before, couldn't keep the momentum. The Frenchman lost in the second round Wednesday to countryman Michael Llodra 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.

  Other American losers were: Vince Spadea, Kevin Kim, Taylor Dent, Jeff Salzenstein, Alex Bogomolov Jr., Jan-Michael Gambill, Robby Ginepri, Todd Martin.

  HOSTILE CROWD

  Irakli Labadze wagged his finger at the partisan crowd on center court and then tapped it on his temple as if to say: "You're all crazy!"

  The Georgian lost his composure -- and the match, 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 -- to marathon man Fabrice Santoro. Opening up a 3-0 lead in the first set, Labadze lost three straight games and faced break point on serve.

  He screamed in frustration, prompting a chorus of whistles and boos from the crowd.

  Saving break point, Labadze shouted "Yeesss!" and bowed mockingly to the stands.

  They cheered -- and cheered even harder when he put his next shot into the net. Labadze shook his head in disbelief and then hugged the net judge for comfort.

  In a first-round match at Roland Garros ending Tuesday, Santoro completed his 6 hour, 33 minute match (stretched over two days) against Arnaud Clement. It was the longest in the Open era by time.
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