TENNIS: FRENCH OPEN : Edberg Has Reason to Smile After Victory

PARIS —  Could it be that Stefan Edberg is actually enjoying this French Open experience?

Edberg, whose on-court expressions usually run the gamut from A to B, actually waved to the crowd Saturday as he left Court Central.

This was in contrast to his sullen exit of a year ago after losing in the first round to Sergi Bruguera.

But after a 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 victory Saturday over Andrei Chesnokov, Edberg had every right to feel pleased with himself now that he has reached the fourth round.

And as for that wave . . .

“It happens every once in a while,” Edberg said. “It was sort of nice, I thought.”

After six days of the French Open, there are certain factors that are making things nice for Edberg, who will play Andrei Cherkasov in the fourth round. Primarily, he is benefitting from dry weather that has made the courts harder and faster, helping his serve-and-volley attack.

Top-seeded and ranked No. 1., Edberg also has been aided by three casualties in the top half of the draw: withdrawals of Ivan Lendl and Jonas Svensson and the second-round defeat of sixth-seeded Pete Sampras.

Add it up and one can make a case for the first French Open title to be won by a serve-and-volley player since Yannick Noah in 1983.

“It’s about time, isn’t it?” Edberg said.

“I still believe it’s possible to do it. I mean, I reached the final in ’89 playing that way. That’s the way for me to do it, playing the way I did today.”

Chesnokov, who led, 3-1, in both the second and third sets, was a semifinalist here two years ago, losing to Michael Chang, who went on to defeat Edberg in the final.

However, Edberg kept the pressure on Chesnokov until he began missing his passing shots with increasing regularity.

“I couldn’t play much better than today,” Edberg said. “Everything was positive.”

One of the fourth-round matchups that came into focus Saturday will feature Americans Jim Courier and Todd Martin, who practice together.

Courier came back from a set down to win a 3-hour 33-minute ground duel with Magnus Larsson of Sweden, 6-3, 4-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2, and Martin made the most of his first French Open with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Paul Haarhuis of the Netherlands.

Martin, 20, lost in the first round of last year’s U.S. Open, his only other Grand Slam appearance.

The 6-foot-6 right-hander who left Northwestern after his sophomore year had won only one other clay court match in three tuneup events this spring. He reached the main draw through qualifying.

Martin worked with Jose Higueras to learn clay court tactics as part of a United States Tennis Assn. project, in which both Courier and Chang have taken part.

Martin’s appearance in the fourth round is a pleasant surprise to Courier.

“I can tell you this, of the guys from the (USTA) team, I would not have bet money on him to even get through qualifying,” Courier said.

In Edberg’s mind, he practices what happened to him here a year ago and it is never far from his thoughts.

“Of course I think about what happened here last year and I don’t want it to happen again,” Edberg said. “The Slams, this is where it gets interesting for me.”