ALL EYES were on the left at Roland Garros yesterday and it had nothing to do with Lionel Jospin's election victory. The centre of attention was Morocco's Hicham Arazi, whose left arm cast a magical spell over Court Suzanne Lenglen and swept Chile's Marcelo Rios, the number seven seed and Italian champion, to a four-set defeat.
Arazi, aged 23, is a thrilling talent with brilliant top-spin shots off forehand and backhand and lightning speed over the red clay. Rios, hardly a slouch, had few significant answers and, patently demoralised, played well below his best.
The Moroccan, who has lived in France since he was two, hit an array of winners as vivid as a peacock's tail from early in the first set, including numerous devastating drop 5hots.
This is Arazi's first French Open and in the quarter-finals he will play Spain's Sergi Bruguera, who caused another upset yesterday when he defeated Michael Chang, the number two seed.
Indeed, there are only two seeds left in the last eight, Bruguera (No.16) and Russia's Yevgeny Kafelnikov, the reigning champion and No. 3. This is the fewest here since open tennis began in 1968.
What a mark Arazi made yesterday. Of course making a mark has its own particular significance in the world of clay-court tennis, for only on this surface can a player call the umpire from his chair to check, by means of the imprint the ball makes, whether a shot was in or out.
But there are indentations on the court and indentations in the mind. The two are frequently not mutual, and Chang was of the opinion that the rub of the clay went almost totally Bruguera's way in their fourth-round match which the Spaniard, the French champion in 1993 and 1994, won 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.
There is the feeling within the men's and women's games that the Spaniards are prone 19 pointing to the wrong marks, with Australia's Mark Woodforde last week singling out the Sanchez family in particular.
In a variation on this theme Carl Chang, Michael's brother and coach, accused Luis Bruguera, Sergi's father and coach, of trying to influence the match from the sidelines. And all this during the match.
"Stop looking at your father all the time, he's coaching you," shouted Carl near the beginning of the fourth and final set. "Shut up," replied Luis. Carl demurred. "Are you silly!" interjected Sergi, at which point normal service - the match - resumed.
The ill-feeling rumbled on afterwards but when all was done and dusted the result was more indelible than the mark of any ball or the remarks of two coaches. Chang, the winner here in 1989 when he was just 17, simply made too many mistakes.
Spain achieved its second quarter-finalist when Galo Blanco, ranked 111, defeated Petr Korda of the Czech Republic. Blanco, 20, who came back superbly against the 30th-ranked Korda after a shaky start, now plays Australian Patrick Rafter.
After ousting Woodforde 6-2, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2, Rafter said: "I didn't want to rub anything in since Mark is a friend of mine. I was very nervous. It's very difficult to play one of your countrymen. I wanted to win desperately. I knew it was my chance - and I came up with the goods."
Gustavo Kuerten, who defeated Andrei Medvedev 5-7, 6-1, 6-2, 1-6, 7-5, has upset the French federation by not wearing enough white. He has played all his matches in blue shoes and shorts and a yellow shirt. "We don't want the guys looking like soccer players," said the French president. A black mark.
