PARIS (AP)—Face-down on the clay after getting his feet tangled, Robby Ginepri tried to make light of the situation by doing some push-ups right there in the French Open’s main stadium.
Seemed like a good idea at the time. The spectators loved it. Ginepri smiled. Even the American’s fourth-round opponent Monday, No. 3-seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia, laughed at the gag.
The joke, it turned out, was on Ginepri. After playing so well for so long— all tournament and against Djokovic—the 98th-ranked Ginepri, of Kennesaw, Ga., suddenly lost that game and lost his way. The last U.S. man in the field at Roland Garros went quietly in the end, beaten by Djokovic 6-4, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2.
“Never doing those again on court. I think that kind of changed the momentum a little bit,” said Ginepri, who failed in his bid to become the first American man in the French Open quarterfinals since Andre Agassi in 2003. “I felt a little stupid, slipping and falling on my face, so tried to get the crowd back to my side. Maybe that took a little bit of my focus away.”
Until that moment, Ginepri was giving the 2008 Australian Open champion a tough time, grinding away in lengthy baseline rallies while splitting the opening two sets.
How big an upset would this have been? Not only was Ginepri 0-4 against Djokovic, but he’d lost all nine sets they’d played previously. Consider, too, that Ginepri came to Paris without a coach, and with a 1-7 record in 2010, something he acknowledged was “a pretty terrible stat.”
He also was 9-31 for his career on clay before last week. That included six first-round losses in seven previous French Open appearances, although he also managed to reach the fourth round in 2008.
Yet there Ginepri was Monday, right in the thick of things while serving in the second game of the third set. That’s when Djokovic’s perfect lob sent Ginepri chasing, then sprawling, then engaging in a midmatch workout.
After taking a moment to towel off some clay, Ginepri made two consecutive unforced errors to get broken—part of a stretch in which Djokovic won five games in a row and 10 of 11.
“I thought I had a lot more in the tank to give, but I just didn’t get a good opportunity,” said Ginepri, who pulled off a five-set upset of 2003 French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero in the third round. “Novak was playing too well, was hitting some of the best shots I’ve seen.”
Next up for Djokovic is 22nd-seeded Jurgen Melzer, who ended the surprising run of 114th-ranked Russian qualifier Teimuraz Gabashvili 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-1, 6-4. Melzer is the first Austrian man to reach the French Open quarterfinals since 1998, when one of his idols, Thomas Muster, did it.
The other quarterfinal in that half of the draw will be an all-Spanish matchup pitting four-time champion Rafael Nadal against No. 19 Nicolas Almagro, who got past another Spaniard, No. 7 Fernando Verdasco, 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.
Nadal eliminated No. 24 Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 in the fourth round—the stage at which Nadal’s record 31-match winning streak at the French Open ended last year with a loss to Robin Soderling.
This time around, Nadal hasn’t dropped a set as he tries to become the second man to win five French Open titles; Bjorn Borg holds the record of six.
Djokovic twice has reached the semifinals at the clay-court Grand Slam tournament, in 2007 and 2008, before losing to Nadal each time.
It was Ginepri who had to slog through 13 sets on his way to Monday, but it was Djokovic who got off to a slow start in the day’s first match on Court Philippe Chatrier.
“I’m really not a morning person,” Djokovic explained, “so it took a lot of time for me to get into the rhythm and warm up. He was very aggressive from the start. He played well. I was lucky to pull out that first set.”
Indeed, if not for a little lapse, Ginepri might have taken an early lead. With Djokovic serving at 4-all, Ginepri earned two break points. Grab either one, and he’d get a chance to serve for the set.
But at 15-40, Djokovic somehow reached back for a half-volley that died when it landed on the other side of the net. Ginepri blew the next break point by sailing a sliced backhand long. Later, Djokovic ended a 15-stroke exchange with a drop volley, then followed up with a service winner to go up 5-4.
Crisis avoided, Djokovic broke in the next game to take the set.
“Anything that he tried,” Ginepri said, “it seemed like it worked.”
In the 29-year-old Melzer, Djokovic now goes up against the oldest man left in the tournament. Melzer will be playing in his first Grand Slam quarterfinal, in his 32nd appearance at a major event.
“To be the oldest player is not a special feeling,” Melzer said. “Reaching the quarterfinals for the first time—that’s a special feeling. I mean, of course, that it took such a long time to get here. But it still feels great, no matter how old you are.”
Gabashvili eliminated No. 6 Andy Roddick a round earlier, and the American offered some tips via text message to his good pal Melzer.
“I attacked a little more than Andy. That’s what he suggested—that I should attack,” Melzer said. “But I didn’t need Andy to tell me that. I have a coach for that.”
