Tennis: Davenport Keeps Her Feet on the Ground

If there were such a dance as the Roland Garros glide then Lindsay Davenport would sit it out. Gene Kelly may have high-kicked his way around Paris but this particular American is more inclined to plant her feet as securely as is possible on the shifting clay and swing from the hip. And yesterday, to her own amazement, she reached tomorrow's quarter-finals with a 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 win over Kim Clijsters.

With the Belgian leading 3-1 in the second set, many were rifling through the record books to check the heaviest defeat by a No1 seed in the French Open. Davenport's eyes were already straying towards the exit as the fates seemingly conspired: "I'm just really a little bit amazed. I mean, I was on clay, playing against somebody who had beaten me on six previous occasions, and having struggled in my previous match."

Despite the huge bandage around her right knee that she injured in Berlin, Clijsters's form last week had suggested she might be a genuine contender for her first grand slam title. Her movement did not appear to be unduly hindered, while her forehand was pinging off the racket with the sweetest of sounds.

Clijsters is such an out-going, well-balanced sportswoman that is always a temptation to over-egg her chances, and she had remained cautious. "I won my early matches easily, but I really didn't have a good feeling out there. Against somebody like Davenport you have to play almost your best tennis, which I did for a while. But then all of a sudden I lost the feeling of the strokes."

It seems odd to talk of a fourth-round victory by the world No1 as a shock, although that was certainly how it felt, and Davenport concurred. Whereas Clijsters had not dropped a set on the way to the last 16, Davenport had been involved in three successive three-setters, twice coming back after being a set down.

Davenport's best-ever run at Roland Garros came seven years ago when she lost to Spain's Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, the eventual champion, in the semi-finals. "It would be crazy for me for me to expect to come in here and win. On this surface, more than any other, I can control things the least."

It would be wrong to suggest that Mary Pierce was universally acclaimed in France after winning the title here in 2000, having been born in Montreal and living in the United States. Perhaps nowadays they look on her a little more kindly, and the cheers erupting from the Philippe Chatrier court when she defeated Switzerland's Patti Schnyder 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 were as aloud as any yesterday.

This was partly due to the fact that Pierce was playing the tease, having missed no fewer than 10 match points. Mary, the mistress of the languid pose, smiled a prolonged smile. "It would have been a tough match to lose after so many."

Pierce, who will next play Davenport, made a point of talking up her game at the beginning of last week although those who took much notice were few and far between.

Since winning the title here, to add to her Australian Open crown in 1995, the 30-year-old had reached just one grand slam quarter-final in 15 attempts, and went out in the first round of this year's Australian Open.

But now she has her brother, David, back as her coach - and he too could not stop smiling as she tried to close out the game - and she has also reaffirmed her religious beliefs, as she did before winning five years ago. So Pierce is at ease with herself in Paris. "Playing this tournament is very special for me. Sometimes the crowd can make you a little nervous, but it's all positive."

Bulgaria's 15-year-old Sesil Karatantcheva, who defeated Venus Williams in the third round, also reached the last eight with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Emmanuelle Gagliardi of Switzerland, thus becoming the sixth youngest to reach the quarter-finals at Roland Garros in the Open era, the youngest being Jennifer Capriati in 1990 when the American was only 14 years and two months.

The Bulgarian, a product of the Nick Bollettieri academy in Florida, who generally is not backward in coming forward, admitted to being "scared" when she led 5-2 in the second set, but managed to overcome her nerves. Tomorrow she plays Elena Likhovtseva, who defeated her fellow Russian, and last year's French and US Open beaten finalist, Elena Dementieva, 7-6, 5-7, 7-5.

"Just the thought of me being in the quarter-finals in Paris was just too scary for me," Karatantcheva said. "I guess the pressure really is getting to me. I hope for the quarters I'll be more relaxed."

Likhovtseva, who has just returned to the top 20 after a four-year absence, is not one of the Russians who have swept to the top over the last two years, having made her slam debut in 1993. This is her 44th in succession, during which she has reached two previous quarter-finals, at Wimbledon in 2002 and Melbourne in 2000.

She is almost twice the age of Karatantcheva and will hope that experience tells. "But from what I have heard she will not be intimidated," said Likhovtseva, who lost to the Bulgarian on the Gold Coast earlier this year in a third set tie-break. "It was not pleasant match for me, but I'm going to fight for every point and not think of my first slam semi-final."

Yesterday's schedule was cut short by rain with Russia's Maria Sharapova, the No2 seed, leading Nuria Llagostera Vives of Spain 6-2, 3-3 and with Justine Henin-Hardenne not starting.