PARIS, 29 May 2003 — Former champions Andre Agassi and Carlos Moya advanced to the third round of the French Open here yesterday in contrasting fashion, as another past hero of the Roland Garros clay courts, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, conceded it could be over for him.
Agassi, who came from two sets down to win the title here in 1999, performed a similar houdini act against Croatian teen Mario Ancic winning 5-7, 1-6, 6-4, 6-2, 7-5 and write himself into the history books again with a record 763 career wins, one more than fellow American Pete Sampras.
“Sometimes you never know how the story’s going to unfold. Today was a tough one. I got myself out of a bit of a hole,” said Agassi who next meets Xavier Malisse, the Belgian 26th seed, for a place in the last 16.
But while the Las Vegan showed at 33 years that he still has the stamina to take on the youngsters, 1996 champion Kafelnikov admitted that at 29 years he felt he was past it.
The Russian was considering his future after going out 6-4, 3-6, 6-0, 6-7 (0-7), 6-4 to 22-year-old Brazilian Flavio Saretta following a 3hr 55min marathon.
“I’m playing the same type of game as I did seven or eight years ago. The question is whether I can maintain that kind of performance through the five sets,” said Kafelnikov, a former Australian Open champion, who was seeded 17th.
Fourth seed Moya, who has struggled to make his mark at Roland Garros since winning as a 21-year-old in 1998, scored his second straight win here over Australian Mark Philippoussis 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (9-7), and next meets 31 seed Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina.
Defending women’s champion Serena Williams of the United States raced into the third round along with Belgian fourth seed Justine Henin-Hardenne and fifth seeded Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo, but Slovak ninth seed Daniela Hantuchova was packing her bags after her shock loss to American newcomer Ashley Harkleroad.
Top seed Williams, already the holder of all four Grand Slam titles, slammed Switzerland’s Marie-Gaiane Mikaelian 6-3, 6-2 in 1hr 07min to set up a meeting with Austrian Barbara Schett who won a three setter against last year’s semifinalist Clarisa Fernandez of Argentina.
Henin-Hardenne maintained her recent form with a 6-2, 6-2 win in 1hr 13min over Croatian Jelena Kostanic, and next meets Madagascar’s Dally Randriantefy, as Mauresmo, the fifth seed, meets Colombia’s Fabiola Zuluaga, after racing past Russia’s Lina Krasnoroutskaya 6-1, 6-2 in 50 minutes.
