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11th June, 2000 Lighter work load may lift Norman THE French Open final will not only be a contest for a coveted crown, but will decide between Magnus Norman and Gustavo Kuerten who is the best claycourter this year. The great thing about this final is that both players are equally talented, even though Kuerten has worked harder to get there. But "Guga" won easily the last time the pair played in Hamburg. He's a fantastic player when he's in top form and there's no doubt Kuerten has set himself to win his second French Open today. The way he's hitting the ball, Kuerten is going to be a dangerous player by the time he arrives in Brisbane with the Brazilians for the Davis Cup tie at ANZ stadium. Norman keeps improving. When he won five titles last year, nobody was really surprised because he works so hard. Now he's gone to the next level. He's fit and he's unbelievably consistent. Norman has dropped only one set in the tournament, which is a great achievement when you consider the talent he's played. Kuerten has had to go through a couple of big five-setters and those matches could tell on him today when Norman's freshness could give him the edge. Unfortunately for Australia, Mark Philippoussis and Lleyton Hewitt were knocked out before the end of the second week, but both can be comfortable with the way they played. Philippoussis was beaten by Juan Carlos Ferrero, who's a great young player and made the semi-finals, and Lleyton lost to Albert Costa, another Spaniard who loves the clay. The conditions during the first couple of sets of Lleyton's match were ridiculous and it was fortunate nobody was injured on a slippery court. BEING back on a grass court this week in Halle has been fantastic. There's nothing like the feeling of grass under your feet, especially after struggling on clay for the past couple of months. Halle is a great little town and the tournament here is a beauty. Tony Roche has been working me hard over the past week and I've been committed to the training and practice. The shoulder has held up well under the workload and I've been really tired at night. I'm starting to feel confident again back on the grass and I'm looking to playing some good tennis this week ahead of Rosmalen and Wimbledon. |