Sweden in the cold

A tearful Paul-Henri Mathieu buried his Davis Cup demons on Sunday to lead France into the quarter-finals with an emotional victory over Thomas Johansson. The 22-year-old Mathieu, who blew a two-set lead in the decisive match of the 2002 final against Russia, survived the loss of two match points in the third set to beat the Swede 6-1, 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 and clinch a 3-2 win in Strasbourg. His relief was palpable as he blinked tears from his eyesand accepted the hugs of captain Guy Forget and his team mate Sebastien Grosjean who had earlier lost to Joachim Johansson to force the decisive match.

“It was one of those great Davis Cup weekends. Paul-Henri’s performance was extraordinary,” Forget said. “Paulo (Mathieu) has made it. He’s a great Davis Cup player,I was thrilled by the quality of his game.”

Mathieu said: “It was tough mentally when he came back totwo sets to one. But I was at home in Strasbourg and I had to look for that victory deep in my heart.” Mathieu will likely confront the man who caused him so much agony in 2002 — Mikhail Youzhny — in the quarter-final.