PARIS -- Trying to show a serve-and-volleyer can thrive in the French Open, Patrick Rafter advanced to the third round today against clay-court specialist Nicolas Escude of France.
"It's a big relief," Rafter, seeded third, said after his 7-5, 6-0, 2-6, 6-4 victory.The match was completed after being suspended for darkness the night before, with Rafter leading two sets to none.
Tim Henman tumbled out of the tournament after leading two sets to love and 3-1 in the third against Alberto Berasategui of Spain, a 1994 finalist in Paris. Serving at 4-5 in the fifth, the seventh-seeded Briton netted his two final shots to give the Spaniard a 4-6, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 win.
Alex Corretja, last year's finalist and perennial favorite at Roland Garros, took five sets to defeat Spanish countryman Fernando Vicente, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (4-7), 6-2.
Among the women, top-seeded Martina Hingis and defending champion Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario powered their way toward a possible semifinal meeting with easy third-round victories.
Neither player has lost a set in the first three rounds. Hingis has lost only 18 games and Sanchez-Vicario 12.
The two could meet in the semifinals, but first Hingis has a likely date in the quarters with Venus Williams -- also in top form. She faced Alicia Molik of Australia later in the day.
Hingis beat Kveta Hrdlickova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-4, helped by a double fault from her opponent to set up triple match point.
Sanchez-Vicario beat Irina Spirlea of Romania 6-4, 6-1.
Rafter has won eight titles, but none on clay. Still, the Aussie came into the French Open in great clay-court form, having reached the final of the Italian Open by beating such clay specialists as Felix Mantilla along the way.
Rafter said this week that clay-courters "want to sit back and hit baseline points. I try to play my game as much as I can. I'm surprised Pete (Sampras) doesn't do more of it."
Sampras made an anguished exit Thursday after failing for the 10th time to reach victory at Roland Garros, the one Grand Slam title that eludes him.
Not long after his painful, second-round loss, Sampras was asked why he didn't just throw in the towel, once and for all, and focus on the other three events.
"Say that again?" he asked. "Not play here?"
The question seemed to energize him.
"I would never do that," he said, emphasis on the word "never."
For Sampras, all that counts now is what goes down in the record books. That's why Sampras worked so hard last year to finish at No. 1, becoming the only player to do so six times in a row. He said he knew that was a record that might never be broken, and that's why he wanted it.
Likewise, Sampras knows he has a good chance of being regarded as the greatest player ever. But not, he thinks, if he keeps failing miserably at the French.
So Sampras insists on trying, again and again, even though he feels so ill at ease on clay.
"I've won all the other majors, and this is one that is my biggest challenge," he said after his loss to Andrei Medvedev. "I'm hopefully going to play this game for many years, just keep on coming back and trying."
But Sampras knows his time is limited. He is 27 now and there are a whole lot of players who are younger and much more comfortable on clay. Sampras never looked comfortable in his 7-5, 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 match.