Angry Bruguera Steams Ahead

There will be no more questions about Sergi Bruguera’s hunger for a third consecutive French Open tennis title.

On a cool, tense Monday, with his temper as short as his ground strokes, Bruguera flashed some characteristic guts and some uncharacteristic anger and fought off whitehot slugger Magnus Larsson like the champion he is to find a place in the quarterfinals.

The score was 6-1, 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-4).

But before he was allowed to win his 18th consecutive French Open match, Bruegera had a run-in with chair umpire Soeren Friemel that changed a lot of people’s perceptions about his once-placid personality and left serious questions about the way the tournament is being run.

Bruguera led 1-0 in the fourth-set tiebreak when the husky, powerful Swede stepped around a backhand and hit an inside-out forehand that seemed to clip the intersection of the sideline and the service line.

Bruguera played the ball, hitting wide, then walked to the chair and asked Friemel to take a look at the mark.

To Bruguera’s surprise, Friemel refused to climb off his perch. He told Bruguera he was positive the ball “was clearly in.”

Bruguera freaked. “The mark is there. Go and see the mark,” he demanded. “You have to go.”

Friemel was unmoved. Bruguera then leaned on the net in frustration a few seconds and turned back to Friemel: “Default me then. It’s not my choice to play.” And, then, angrily: “You’re cheating me. Go call the supervisor.”

While Bill Gilmour was summoned to the court, Bruguera sat down, grim-faced. Larsson went to his chair and cleaned the red clay dust out of his fingernails. The crowd, backing Larsson, booed.

After Gilmour consulted briefly with Friemel, he gave Bruguera the bad news. “It’s his decision. He’s absolutely sure,” Gilmour told him and repaired to his office.

The whole mess took 5 minutes, a trifle longer than the 20 seconds required between points.

Larsson expressed displeasure but didn’t fault Bruguera. “I would blame the umpire,” he said.

No one lost concentration, and it didn’t change the outcome of the match. But it was a clear signal that Bruguera’s appetite for this prestigious crown is not quenched, despite comments from his adversaries that he isn’t playing as well as when he won in 1993 and 1994.

He was joined in the quarterfinals of the lower half of the draw by Michael Chang, who came back from a horrible first set to devastate Michael Stich 1-6, 6-0, 6-2, 6-3; and by unseeded Renzo Furlan and Adrian Voinea. Furlan beat qualifier Scott Draper 7-5, 6-1, 7-6 (7-5), and Voinea won over Andrei Chesnokov 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, 6-4. Voinea becomes only the second qualifier (Thierry Champion was the first) to make the quarterfinals.

The upper half was completed Sunday with Andre Agassi, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Thomas Muster and Alberto Costa.

Bruguera had not lost a set in the first three rounds and was easily turning Larsson into another of his oversized victims when Larsson caught a phenomenal hot streak.

For seven games he couldn’t miss a thing, slamming unreachable forehand short-corner cross-court ground strokes, touch volleys, drop volleys and crunching backhands down the line. At one time, Bruguera tilted his head skyward and grumbled something in Spanish on three straight points.

The streak took Larsson from 2-2 in the second set to 3-0 in the third. Finally, Bruguera rallied back at 3-5 to break Larsson, then held his serve after facing three set points.

“It was a very important moment,” he said. “He was playing great tennis. I know if I come back from 5-4 I am going to win the set.”

Chang can give part of the credit for his win to Arnaud Boetsch, who took Stich to five exhausting sets two days ago in the third round.

“I thought Michael (Stich) was a little tired today, which worked well for me,” said Chang. But Chang was less than perfect himself. “I didn’t have good rhythm on my serve today,” he said. But his return game and his ground strokes more than made up for it.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: FRENCH OPEN Winners: In the fourth round, two-time defending champion, Sergi Bruguera beat Sweden’s Magnus Larsson, No.10 seed, and Michael Chang, the 1989 champion defeated No.12 Michael Stich. Also advancing to the quarterfinals were Renzo Furlan of Italy and qualifier Adrian Voinea of Romania. A look ahead: Top-seeded Andre Agassi plays Yevgeny Kafelnikov, No.9 and fifth-seeded Thomas Muster meets Spain’s Alberto Costa. In the women’s quarterfinals, three-time champion Steffi Graf faces Gabriela Sabatini, No.8; Aranxta Sanchez Vicario continues defense of her crown against American Chanda Rubin; Conchita Martinez, No.4, plays Virginia Ruano-Pascual of Spain and Kimiko Date, No.9, takes on Croatia’s Iva Majoli, No.12. Quote of the day: “I was a little bewildered and feeling out of place. It was quiet, it was raining, it was quite dismal out there” - 135th-ranked Patrick Draper describing the thrill of celebrating his 21st birthday on Center Court. Stat of the day: Michael Stich had 60 unforced errors compared to Michael Chang’s 22.