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Journalism of Courage
CHENNAI, JAN 2: Cedric Pioline looked awfully out of touch against Galo Blanco of Spain initially and even went to the extent of losing the first set. He was not the one to surrender though. His game slowly picked up momentum as he started hitting flowing winners. The quality of the match also went a few notches higher as there was no break of serve in the third set with the Spaniard serving brilliantly. Finally, the Frenchman was happy to get through in the tiebreak in a hotly contested first round at 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4) in the Gold Flake Open Tennis Tournament 2001 at the Nungambakkam Tennis Stadium, here on Tuesday.
Andreas Vinciguerra, who has improved by leaps and bounds in the last two years, made it to the second round, defeating Michel Kratochvil (Switzerland) 7-6 (4), 6-3. The sixth-seeded Swede showed more consistency from the back of the court to turn the match in his favour.
Qualifier Kristian Pless of Denmark advanced at the expense of Wayne Black at 6-2, 7-5. The oldest player in the draw, Ronald Agenor, the 36-year-old, from Haiti, defeated Czech Tomas Zib without much difficulty, 6-3, 6-2.
Cedric Pioline (Fra) bt Galo Blanco (Spa) 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4); Ronald Agenor (Hai) bt Tomas Zib (Cze) 6-3, 6-2; Kristian Pless (Den) bt Wayne Black (Zim) 6-2, 7-5.
Pioline getting a feel of things
K V Vasudevan
CHENNAI: IN the end, the second oldest player in the singles draw and a Wimbledon finalist in 1997 just about managed to stay alive in the event. Frenchman Cedric Pioline said he was satisfied in the end with his play for the simple reason that he won.
The Spaniard Galo Blanco, a first-timer to Gold Flake tennis showed no nerves taking on a player of a higher standing. As Pioline was to graciously acknowledge that his opponent attacked a lot. He was so positive in his approach and it was very close in the end.
Did the early breeze bother Pioline when more than once his shots landed in the crowd. “Not exactly. The first match is never easy, more when you know very little of your opponent. Then both of us were getting the first serves in. Losing the first set meant I had to take the charge. The long rallies only helped me get better and better.”
Drawn to meet Haitian Ronald Agenor in the second round, Pioline hoped it will be a good contest. “We have played each other before and it should be some contest. I am getting used to the conditions and the crowd support is just about fine.
Agenor, defying his 36 years, was happy that he will be meeting his good friend Pioline in the second round. For sure he has no retirement plans right now and will carry on so long as the legs can take the load. “I am enjoying my tennis now and the win over the Czech Tomas Zib today has increased my confidence to do better and better.”
Agenor is coaching a bit these days in an academy in Los Angeles. Plans are there to do serious coaching but that has to wait for the time being. The youngest in a family of six children is at his most relaxed phase. Any win is a bonus for him from now on. “You never know in tennis. The best thing is to hang on and keep fighting.”
