Upsets du Jour

PARIS —  Pete Sampras appeared to be in distress. A late-afternoon sun was beating down, heating the crushed red-brick surface of the Suzanne Lenglen show court at Roland Garros. Sampras’ tongue was hanging out, his chin was resting on his heaving chest and sweat was puddling in his socks. The tournament’s top-seeded player had just lost the first two sets to the No. 65 player in the world.

There was little panic. Sampras frequently looks to be on the brink of collapse before pulling out major victories. On the other hand, it was the third round of the French Open, and if anything can go wrong for Sampras, it will here, at the only Grand Slam tournament he has not won.

The worst happened for Sampras. Magnus Norman of Sweden, on his 21st birthday, defeated Sampras, 6-2, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, ending for another year Sampras’ quest to complete his set of Grand Slam tournament trophies.

“It will be a continued struggle for me to win here, I realize that,” a dejected Sampras said. “It’s not going to be easy.”

Former champion Thomas Muster knows the feeling. The fifth-seeded Muster was knocked out Friday by Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil, ranked No. 66. Kuerten took 3 hours 8 minutes to outhustle Muster, 6-7 (7-3), 6-1, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.

To add to the day’s tension on the men’s side, defending champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia needed five sets to get past Cedric Pioline of France. Kafelnikov, seeded third, eventually won, 7-5, 6-4, 6-7 (7-3), 1-6, 6-4.

Another in a series of calamities befell Sampras. Thursday afternoon he was struck by an intestinal virus that has been working its way through some of the players here. He developed diarrhea and curtailed his off-day practice session.

Sampras requested a late start on Friday’s schedule. Tournament officials obliged, as they often do with No. 1-ranked players. Sampras’ match was the last of the day, and the stands were packed in anticipation. French fans warmly support Sampras’ determined but so-far thwarted efforts to succeed on the clay.

By way of preparation, Sampras played, and lost, only two matches on clay before coming in here. But he got off to his best start ever, losing only 14 games in the tournament before Friday.

That trend didn’t hold up against Norman. Sampras was dragging at the start, and Norman took advantage.

Sampras began stocking up many of his 68 unforced errors, and soon Norman had two sets in hand.

“I just blame the slow start I had,” Sampras said. “I really got off to a very slow start, didn’t feel too good out there. I felt much better in the third and fourth than I did in the first couple of sets.”

Norman had been told about Sampras’ weakened condition by friends who had read about it in Swedish newspapers. Norman thought it was a rumor until he saw Sampras at the start.

Sampras began to stir in the third set and looked his old self. With Sampras coming back, Norman, who suffers from an ailment that causes his heart to beat erratically, found himself in heart-pumping territory.

“I was trying to not think about [the fact] that I was playing in front of a big crowd at the French Open,” he said. “I thought I had a good chance, but not to win in five sets. That’s the dream of all tennis players, to play a No. 1 and beat him.”

Norman’s final tension came in serving out the match, which he did at love.

Sampras, 25, was left to recite the same hopeful mantra he has had for the eight years he has been trying to win this tournament.

“I feel like there are a lot of years left . . . to break through here,” he said. “It wasn’t meant to be this year.”

Muster was of the same mind Friday, having been thrown out by a player who beat him soundly at his own physical game. It left him speechless and angry.

The last time Muster played a Brazilian, he made Davis Cup history by walking off a court during a doubles match in Sao Paulo last September.

Muster complained that the crowd was threatening him and later was fined for abandoning the match. Kuerten was across the net on that day too.

On Friday, the Brazilian was sometimes brilliant but also erratic, as his 83 unforced errors attest. He blasted out to a 5-2 lead in the first set, but Muster won four consecutive games and won the set in the tiebreaker.

Kuerten took a 5-0 lead in the second set and won easily.

Muster grunted his way back into the match and won the fourth set, but Kuerten--an avid surfer who looked as if he had just hopped off a skateboard--countered with his own grunting and delighted the crowd with the win.