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 Monday, June 5
Norman responds to verbal attack with rout
 
 SportsTicker

Results

PARIS -- In the opinion of Andrei Medvedev, Magnus Norman is not worthy to lead the ATP Champions Race 2000, but the third-seeded Swede got the last laugh Monday at the French Open.

Norman needed just 93 minutes to rout the unseeded Ukranian, the runner-up here last year, 6-0, 6-4, 6-2, in a rain-delayed fourth-round match to advance to the quarterfinals.

Norman holds the lead in the race for the year-end No. 1 ranking, but Medvedev had ridiculed his status. With the early elimination of Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras, Norman is the highest seed remaining in the men's draw.

However, the Swede has expressed his displeasure at the lack of respect he believes he has received in Paris. He was unhappy at being placed on one of the outer courts for his third-round victory over Sargis Sargsian of Armenia on Saturday.

Medvedev riled Norman even further by caling him "the so-called world No. 1," setting the stage for today's encounter. But Norman silenced Medvedev, winning the first set in just 20 minutes.

Medvedev advanced to his first Grand Slam final last year in Paris and squandered a two-set lead in his loss to Agassi.

Joining Norman in the quarterfinals is No. 12 seed Marat Safin of Russia, who posted a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory over No. 6 Cedric Pioline, the last Frenchman remaining in the tournament.

Safin reached the fourth round at Roland Garros for the third straight year. The 20-year-old has turned his season around after taking on former player Andrei Chesnokov as his coach, winning consecutive claycourt events in Barcelona and Mallorca and reaching the final at Hamburg.

Safin improved to 2-2 lifetime against Pioline, also winning their most recent match in the quarterfinals at Hamburg.

Pioline, 30, had dropped only one set in winning his first three matches. He won the Tennis Masters Series event in Monte Carlo and was a quarterfinalist at Hamburg, Germany in claycourt tuneups for Paris.

Two other fourth-round matches were suspended because of darkness. Albert Costa of Spain leads ninth seed Lleyton Hewitt of Australia, 6-3, 4-4, and Franco Squillari has a commanding 6-4, 6-1, 3-3 lead on 15th seed Younes El Aynaoui of Morroco.

Martina Navratilova's third-round women's doubles match was pushed back a day.

The 43-year-old Navratilova, who is playing in her first French Open since 1994, teams will team with Mariaan de Swardt to face the sixth-seeded French duo of Alexandra Fusai and Nathalie Tauziat.

Navratilova and de Swardt defeated the 12th-seeded Slovenian duo of Tina Krizan and Katarina Srebotnik, 7-6 (7-2), 7-5, on Saturday to reach the third round.

A two-time singles champion and seven-time doubles winner at the French Open, Navratilova is playing doubles in four tournaments as part of her comeback, although she has stated that she is playing for fun rather than winning titles.

After playing in Paris, Navratilova will compete at a grasscourt event in Eastbourne, England before attempting to tie Billie Jean King for the most overall Wimbledon titles with 20 later this month.

Navratilova was eliminated in the second round of mixed doubles on Sunday.

Top seed Martina Hingis of Switzerland and Americans Monica Seles, Venus Williams and Chanda Rubin earned quarterfinal berths on the women's side Sunday. Former French Open champions Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia and Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil set up a quarterfinal clash on the men's side.

 


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