On court 10 at Roland Garros a lone voice shouted the first line of a current pop anthem. "Who's in the house?" she shrieked. The answer, which arrived over three hours later was, "Tim ain't in the house".
Yes, Tim Henman put himself through another tortuous day in the midday sun. You really have to hand it to the British number one, who just can't play on a clay court. While it demanded significant resolve to approach the net as frequently as he did, it also required an equal measure of stoicism to watch Spain's Fernando Vicente pass him on either side.
Five sets, three hours and 38 minutes play and two rubdowns later Henman made his exit 5-7, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 3-6. Before last year, Henman had never won a match at Roland Garros. Now he is unlikely to ever win this tournament, although yesterday he said that he would be back.
Inconsistent serving, light ground strokes and, in the end, tiredness, sapped the number 13 seed, who may now concentrate on the grass season and contemplate the traditional Wimbledon hairshirt.
"I'm very disappointed with my performance. Today I played poorly. That's frustrating on this surface. If I don't play well on this surface I can't expect to win," said Henman.
"From the outset I felt a little bit lethargic and I just didn't perform but it was a combination of two things, my performance and credit to my opponent," he added.
Mark Philippoussis continued to make quiet progress. Arriving on the court with the Moroccan Hicham Arazi, it had the makings of a Hollywood epic. The Australian at 6 feet 4 inches and his opponent at 5 feet 9 inches painted quite a picture. Unfortunately for the significant Arab support, Arazi, who was quick and waspish around court, couldn't land a decisive blow.
The hulking power of Philippousis' goliath-like groundstrokes and the weight of his serve, which regularly exceeded 210 k.p.h., swatted the would-be David. "It doesn't matter what surface I play on. If I need to stay out there three or four hours I'm prepared to do that," said Philippoussis later.
Former champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov fought his way past Sebastien Grosjean of France 63, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 to reach the last 16. With last year's champion Andre Agassi and second seed Pete Sampras both already back in the United States after shock early exits the fourth-seeded Russian is one of the title favourites.
Kafelnikov, who lifted the trophy here in 1996 for his last clay title, struggled through two five-set matches in the opening rounds but hit top gear for two sets on Centre Court before overcoming a brief lapse of form to win in two hours 44 minutes.
"I'm playing better than expected. I'm a second week player. If I get through the first week it's gonna be tough for the rest of the guys to stop me," insisted the 26-year-old from Sochi on the Black Sea.
For a number of players in the women's draw, poetic justice came visiting yesterday. The first match up on Court Suzanne Lenglen pitched tennis writer and French hope Nathalie Tauziat against 24-year-old Chanda Rubin. The big French name against a virtual unknown, Tauziat ended up, as it were, a victim of the editing process.
Hesitant, nervous and lacking the voltage that appears to be the driving force of the controversial book published shortly before the tournament began, Tauziat introduced a touch of irony to the tale. Hesitant and caught between caution and what Andre Agassi calls "pulling the trigger", she really beat herself 6-4, 7-6.
Tauziat now continues to look forward to the grass court season, where the power levels of Monica Seles, Venus Williams, Mary Pierce and Amelie Mauresmo may need to be toned down. But their style of play in Paris is becoming increasingly impressive.
Two of those, Pierce and Mauresmo, advanced with worrying ease, Pierce beating Virginie Razzano 6-4, 6-0, having won her previous match 6-1, 6-1 and the one before that 6-3, 6-2. Mauresmo, who took just 39 minutes to dispose of unseeded Kveta Hrdlickova, is putting the same sort of ruthless finish on her game.
Taking 22 minutes for a 6-1 first set and just 17 minutes for the 6-0 second, the 20-year-old reached the final of last year's Australian Open as an unseeded player and so knows the scenery.
Mauresmo's real test will come in the next round where she meets third seed Monica Seles, who also won her third tie, 6-1, 62, with disquieting ease.
Not surprisingly, at the end of the day there was quite a mix of tetchiness and quiet calm. "I lost a match in the French Open. She played better than I did. I'm not going to question my whole career because of a match like this," said Tauziat afterwards. "I lost today. I lost today. What more can I say?"
Pierce, who meets the unseeded Asa Carlsson in the next round, was significantly more upbeat. "After a while I just said `Mary play your game', so I did," she said.
Martina Navratilova drew the crowds on show court one when she made her first appearance in a Grand Slam event for four years. Having played only three games of social tennis in the last five years, the 43-year-old former world number one teamed up with Mariaan De Swardt in a first round match against Sabine Applemens and Rita Grande, which they won 7-5, 6-1, 6-3.
