TENNIS/ Roland Garros: The Eiffel Tower was barely visible through the mist and drizzle that sat over the trees of the Bois de Boulogne. But for Juan Carlos Ferrero, neither rain nor cloud could obscure the vision of the end point of this particular week.
The form player entering Roland Garros this year opened his match against Spanish compatriot Felix Mantilla in light rain, before the day warmed and the number three seed scorched his way through his most complete win of this tournament so far.
A breathless 6-2, 6-1, 6-1 victory echoed the sort of scores clocked up in the women's draw but with it Ferrero reaffirmed his tight grip on Spanish tennis and signalled more emphatically he is capable of challenging here for what would be his first Grand Slam.
He has been to the semi-finals twice before and last year went down to Albert Costa in the final but yesterday Ferrero played with a dangerously sharp lustre.
One of five Spaniards to advance to the final 16, Ferrero has been exciting the European scene with a natural, athletic clay-court game. His comfort at the net and ability to find his way there without looking lonely and vulnerable also bodes well for him at Wimbledon in three weeks' time, if London can somehow remain dry. But on Court Suzanne Lenglen, Ferrero was magisterial in the most one-sided scoreline in seven meetings with Mantilla.
"I know that I can play like this. But I can't play like this in all the matches. I didn't do any mistakes, so solid, no mistakes," he said.
Mantilla, at 28 and five years older than Ferrero, also recognised that he'd met a better player in better physical shape than last year and in harmony with the surface and his game.
"Playing in a match like this and the other player is really better than you, you must recognise from the very beginning. Juan Carlos played a very impressive match. He must be congratulated for it. He has incredible class," said Mantilla.
"Listen, this was one of those rare matches where there was no slack time. He played perfectly."
Two service breaks and two games to love in the first set for 6-1 opened the account for Ferrero.
Although he dropped service in the second set, Ferrero broke Mantilla four times for 6-2 in the second before two service breaks and three games to love in the third handed him an almost flawless 6-3 and the game in just one hour and 40 minutes.
Such was Ferrero's level of play that he earned 20 break points to Mantilla's four and won 86 per cent of his first-serve points. He now faces the booming forehand of Chilean Fernando Gonzalez, a prospect that in the wake of his recent performance will be treated with respect but no unusual amount of fear.
Gustavo Kuerten, a three-times winner, once again arrived on court looking like he'd shared the night with creatures in the adjacent forest. Twirl-haired, unshaven, ear-ringed and with a wide turquoise bandana holding it all together, the heavily supported Brazilian dropped the first set 6-4 to 28th seed Tommy Robredo before instantly replying with a curt 6-1 second.
Although Kuerten is ranked as one of the best clay-court players in the world, he has been average since minor surgery on his hip in February of last year and has advanced only as far as the semi-finals in his last 12 tournaments.
And so Spaniard Robredo, who upset Lleyton Hewitt in the second round, demonstrated as he took the third set on a tie-break for 7-6.
The young Spaniard, who at 21 years and one month is the second-youngest remaining player in the men's draw, was clearly enjoying the spectacle as 'Guga' struggled for consistency on the Suzanne Lenglen Court. The younger player finally broke once for 6-4 in the fourth set, 'Guga' smashing his racquet on the ground and Robredo falling to his knees for the best win of his career to date.
Also through is last year's winner, Albert Costa, who took just three sets to dissolve French hopes. Dangerously threatening to become a five-set specialist, Costa won 6-2, 7-5, 7-5 against Arnaud Clement for a place in the quarter-final against his young compatriot Robredo.
