ESPN.com - French Open 2002 - Agassi ready to roll ahead
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Thursday, July 17
Agassi ready to roll ahead
By MaliVai Washington

Andre Agassi is playing typical tennis for him. He comes out in a tournament and starts rolling over people. He doesn't lack confidence anyway, but when he plays like this his confidence grows.

Mal's Picks
MaliVai Washington
Washington
Former ATP Tour pro MaliVai Washington is providing ESPN.com with in-depth analysis during the French Open. Washington, a tennis analyst for ESPN, reached the 1996 Wimbledon final.

When you play a confident Agassi, there's nothing you can do short of jumping the net and tackling him to beat him. Agassi walks out thinking that a guy like Paul-Henri Mathieu, who he'll meet in the fourth round, is a guy he should beat. The match is likely to be on center court and Mathieu doesn't have any experience on center court. The sheer magic of the place and being in the moment will carry Agassi through this match.

Here's a look at the rest of the draw.

Lleyton Hewitt (1), Australia, vs. Guillermo Canas (15) Argentina
This matchup is going to be Hewitt's biggest test of the championships so far. Obviously, Canas is playing very good tennis because he's beaten some solid players, especially his five-set victory over Carlos Moya in the third round. Canas is one of the best clay-court players, and he's playing the No. 1, Hewitt, who isn't playing on his best surface. Canas has never been that player who has gone deep into the second week of the tournament. This is a great chance for him to have the biggest win of his career in a major championship.

On the other hand, I've always thought that there's no reason for Hewitt to not have a ton of success on clay. With his quarterfinal appearance last year, he may be ready to defeat a clay-courter and prove that he's one of the best on clay.
Pick: Hewitt

Gustavo Kuerten (7), Brazil, vs. Albert Costa (20), Spain
When Kuerten won his second-round match in five sets and then was able to come back in the last round to beat Fernando Gonzalez in four sets, it showed us something: how his body would respond to tough matches. He's shown this week that he might be at the form he was in prior to his surgery. Kuerten has another tough matchup here against another great clay-court player.

A couple of years ago, Costa had a great opportunity to advance to the semifinals, but he fell in the quarters. Costa isn't getting any younger. Everyone knows he's a tough player on clay, but he has this mental block so that when he faces the tough guys on clay he can't get past them. The opportunity is here again. If he can get past Kuerten, he has another great shot to get out of the quarters playing against either Hewitt or Canas. This is a gut-check for Costa. Kuerten has already shown this year that he's willing to fight through to defend his title.
Pick: Kuerten

Tommy Haas (3), Germany, vs. Andre Pavel (22), Romania
Before the tournament, I was saying Haas was going to have a good event depending on how his shoulder felt. His shoulder must be feeling pretty good because he's only lost one set. He'll likely get past Pavel, but Pavel has only lost one set himself.

This will be one of the best matches of the tournament so far in terms of pure shotmaking ability. They played each other at the Tennis Masters in Canada and it was an incredible match. These two players have the best one-handed backhands in the game -- only a couple of players in the world have better backhands than these two.

This is the year, though, for Haas to make his move and win a major. I don't see Pavel winning a major. This will be a great test for Haas to see if can keep his nerve. He's been able to get ahead quickly in his matches and that's a help.
Pick: Haas

Alex Corretja (18), Spain, vs. Mariano Zabaleta, Argentina
Some people have questioned whether Corretja can win that big event. This year, he hasn't played the tennis that he has in the past. But sometimes a good match can turn a player around. Beating Pete Sampras in the Davis Cup on grass was a huge step toward giving Corretja the confidence to get back to where he was when he was playing with the skill of a top 10 player.

As good as Zabaleta is on clay, Corretja should beat him. Corretja has been in these situations before having been in two French Open finals, and he knows about the pressure. Zabeleta doesn't have that experience.
Pick: Corretja

Gaston Gaudio (31), Argentina, vs. Juan Carlos Ferrero (11), Spain
The two times Ferrero was in the semifinals of the French, he lost to eventual champion Kuerten. That says something. People look to him as the second-best clay-court player in the world behind Kuerten. His game is not typical of clay-courters. A lot of them hit loopy balls from way behind the baseline. Ferrero sits closer to the baseline and hits hard. He's a threat on any surface, and he's an interesting challenge on clay. He knows he has the potential to win this tournament if he plays well. Especially the way the draw is shaping up.

He'll have a good test in Gaudio, whose biggest test would have been against Hicham Arazi if he hadn't retired in their match. Gaudio hasn't been tested yet this week.
Pick: Ferrero

Xavier Malisse, Belgium, vs. Sebastien Grosjean (10), France
For a short guy, Grosjean is able to control a match against much bigger and stronger opponents. He thrives on his ability to play in front of the French people. This match will almost certainly be on center court. It's going to be a great atmosphere for him to thrive. He did it last year at the French Open and at the Tennis Masters Series in Paris.

He's going up against Malisse, who has not fulfilled his potential. As a young player, everyone thought Malisse could be a major threat on the tour, but it never panned out. Part of it was that he was never able to handle the pressure from the expectations. It will be interesting to see how he handles the pressure here. He's never been to the quarterfinals of a major before, so this will be the biggest match he's played in a major in a long time.

With Grosjean being in the semis last year, he's not excited about being in the fourth round. He's looking at getting far into the second week. Farther than he's been before.
Pick: Grosjean

Arnaud Di Pasquale, France, vs. Marat Safin (2), Russia
Safin has as much natural ability on the tennis court as any player left in the tournament. His biggest challenge is his attitude and mental capacity -- or lack thereof. I've been announcing his matches for just over two years, and each time I unfortunately find myself saying "he has to mature." I thought he made a step in the right direction hiring Mats Wilander, the most mentally tough player of all time, but obviously that didn't pan out. Recently in Hamburg, you could see that he needed to stay focused instead of seeing how many warnings he can get and how many rackets he can break.

Safin's one of those players that the less he thinks and can get out there and bang the ball, the better he is. Patrick Rafter is like that. He doesn't think about strategy -- just let him play tennis. But if Safin starts thinking about it, he gets frustrated.

He's going to play Di Pasquale who the crowd will favor. There have been times when Safin reacts badly if the crowd is against him. If Di Pasquale gets off to a good start, gets the crowd on his side, he'll have the ability to beat Safin. It would be one of the major surprises of the tournament.

Logic would say to pick Safin, but he self-destructed in the finals of Hamburg. A lot of this match hangs on how well Di Pasquale feeds off the crowd. No question, on paper Safin is the favorite, but you count Di Pasquale out in this match. This will be one of the most interesting fourth-round matches.
Pick: Could go either way

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