Andre Agassi's whimpering exit was highlighted yesterday when Yevgeny Kafelnikov, demonstrating Russian machismo, dismissed blisters on his feet as the reason for marching out of the French Open quarter-finals.
Beaten by the Brazilian number five seed Gustavo Kuerten, Kafelnikov finally came to the end of what was a marathon campaign before sticking his finger in the American's eye.
"It (blister) bothers me a little bit, but not that bad that I cannot continue to play competitive tennis. Not at all," he said. Agassi famously departed in the second round after a rout by Karol Kucera having had a blister attended to on court.
Before the match had even started, Kafelnikov had already played four hours more tennis than his opponent, equivalent to an additional five-set match. Typically, the bout lasted three hours with Kuerten's sweat-soaked denim shorts looking more like weighted saddle bags as the match progressed.
You couldn't have slipped a credit card between the two natural clay court players, Kuerten finally taking the fifth set 6-2 as Kafelnikov inevitably flagged.
"Up until 4-2 in the fourth set, Gustavo was nowhere to be seen, to be honest. I was in total control of the match. But I guess that's the way it happens. Shit happens sometimes," said Kafelnikov.
Kuerten now meets another of the wave of talented Spanish clay court players (most likely none will be seen at Wimbledon) coming through in Juan Carlos Ferrero. The 20-year-old 16th seed made short work of his 26-year-old compatriot Alex Corretja.
Corretja had advanced to the quarter-finals or further for the last three years, but departed after three sets 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. With the scalp of Mark Philippoussis in his pocket and now that of his higher ranked colleague Costa, it beggars belief that Ferrero could not even make the competition last year, going out at the last stage of qualification.
Earlier in the day, Australia's Lleyton Hewitt fell in four sets to Spain's Albert Costa. Hewitt was the last male teenager left in the draw and it showed with a litany of unforced errors. Costa's control kept a rein on the match while Hewitt, who joined Pete Sampras, John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors and Stefan Edberg as one of only 12 teenagers to have won five or more career titles, unsteadily fluctuated throughout.
Younes El Aynaoui, although beaten by Argentina's Franco Squillari for a quarter-final place, showed that the Moroccan revolution does not only apply to athletics. Seeded nine, El Aynaoui became the first from his country to be seeded at a Grand Slam event. Squillari, however, advanced in three sets to meet Costa in the quarterfinals.
