ROME – A year ago Magnus Norman was basking
in the Rome sunshine and the glory of the biggest victory of his
career.
|  | | Losing to Vincenzo Santopadre in straight sets at the Italian Open leaves Magnus Norman wondering if his slump will ever end.
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This year it was all drizzle and disappointment.
Norman's defense of his Rome Masters title lasted just one
hour and 18 minutes Monday in front of a handful of
spectators on a damp, overcast center court at the Foro Italico.
He was beaten 6-4, 6-3 by Italian Vincenzo
Santopadre, a wild card ranked 175 places below him in the ATP
Entry System.
The Swede's exit from the tournament means he has now failed
to make it past the round of 32 in his last five appearances
since his defeat in a hardcourt final in Scottsdale, Ariz., in
early March.
Memories of last summer, when he reached the French Open
final, climbed to second in the world rankings and led the ATP
Champions Race, are fading fast.
"When you go through such a tough moment as this you really
know who your friends are," Norman said after trudging off
Rome's soggy red clay. "The mobile phone doesn't ring as much as
before. My family's there and my coach is there, but that's about
it. It's really tough.
"I'm devastated. This was probably one of the worst matches
of my career and I'm going through one of the worst moments of
my career.
"I haven't really played well all year. I'm struggling with
my confidence and I don't really know how to get out of the
situation."
For Santopadre, it was a different story Monday.
"I played to 150 percent of my capacity," Santopadre said.
"I wasn't really tense at the end of the game. It was more that
I was tired.
"But I kept my composure even after he broke back and
fortunately he then gifted me a few points in the final game."
The only disappointment for the Italian was that there were
only a handful of spectators on a damp, overcast center court
to see him win in his home city.
Santopadre now will face Norman's compatriot Andreas
Vinciguerra in the second round after his 6-2, 6-0 victory over Brazil's Fernando Meligeni.
Britain's grass-court specialist Greg Rusedski adapted
admirably to Rome's damp, slow clay as he beat Germany's David
Prinosil, 6-3, 6-2, while Spanish eighth seed Juan Carlos
Ferrero, fresh from winning the Barcelona Open, swept past
Dutchman Sjeng Schalken, 6-3, 7-5.
Wimbledon champion Pete Sampras' latest bid to get to
grips with clay started badly. He lost the first set against
Israel's Harel Levy 7-5 before rain, which had delayed the
start of the tournament, returned to the Foro Italico and
forced a suspension of play.
Sampras' fellow American Todd Martin also was in trouble,
losing the first set 6-3 to French qualifier Julien Boutter when the rains came.
The year started well enough for Norman when he reached the
final of the Sydney Open before losing to home favorite Lleyton
Hewitt.
But his assault on the Australian Open was ended by France's
Sebastien Grosjean and he was then beaten by unfancied
Belarussian Max Mirnyi in Marseille in February.
He reached the final in Scottsdale, but since then his
performances have been dismal.
Norman's recent tournaments have ended in defeats at the
hands of Nicolas Lapentti, Ivan Ljubicic, Andrei Stoliarov,
Hicham Arazi and Albert Portas, all, apart from Arazi, players
he would have beaten without breaking sweat a year ago.
"I'm playing well in practice, but it's when I get on court
and the umpire's there. I get so tight and I don't really move
my feet," he said. "I don't know what to do. It feels like it's
the first time I've ever played a match."
Norman has no plans to change his approach to the sport in a
bid to recover form.
"I'm going to stick with the thing which worked for me last
year – working hard and relying on my coach and family," he
said. "Sooner or later I hope I can find a way of digging my way
out of this position."
Norman struggled from the outset by dropping his opening
service game, and Santopadre took the first set comfortably.
The Italian broke serve in the third and fifth games of the
second set and though he dropped his own serve to allow Norman
back into contention at 5-3, he hit back again in the next game
to seal the biggest victory of his career.
Norman's 30th unforced error of the match, a wayward
crosscourt forehand into the tramlines, brought the contest to
an end after just one hour and 18 minutes.
Top seed Kuerten, a winner here two years ago, is scheduled
to play Croatian qualifier Ivan Ljubicic on Tuesday, when second
seed Marat Safin and third seed Andre Agassi also are due to
play their first-round matches.
Kuerten won in Monaco two weeks ago but has
been battling a thigh injury that forced him to pull out of the event last
week in Barcelona, Spain.
"I'm playing, perhaps, my best tennis ever," he said. "I want
to come back as soon as possible without taking a chance of the
injury growing worse."
Agassi has never won the Italian Open. A five-set loss in the
1989 final to Argentina's Alberto Mancini is as close as he has
come. However, he clearly proved he can play on clay by winning the
1999 French Open and completing a career Grand Slam.
A third-round exit last year in Rome – and subsequent withdrawal
in Paris with a hip injury – was more typical. Agassi will be
making his season debut on European clay.
At the clay-court Atlanta Challenge last week, Agassi barely got a
workout, losing in 83 minutes in the first round.
The men's event in Rome, part of the Masters Series, precedes
the women's $1.08 million tournament, which opens May 14. The
women's field features Martina Hingis, Jennifer Capriati and
defending champion Monica Seles.
Venus Williams, who won Sunday in Hamburg, Germany, is skipping
the tournament. Younger sister Serena Williams, seeded fourth in
Rome, withdrew Monday, citing a knee injury.  Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories |
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