France in final after
Grosjean beats Roddick
Robert Woodward
Evoking the legendary deeds of their tennis Musketeers of the 1930s, France reached the Davis Cup final for the third time in four years when Sebastien Grosjean beat American Andy Roddick 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Sunday.
Grosjean's victory gave the champions a winning 3-1 lead at the home of French tennis and completed a nightmare for the young hope of American tennis whose claycourt naivety was laid bare for the second time in three days.
France will play Russia, after they took a winning 3-1 lead against Argentina, in the November 29-December 1 final at home, probably at the indoor stadium at Bercy in Paris.
It is the first time since the 1930s, when the Musketeers dominated the Davis Cup, that France have reached the final in successive years and Grosjean's win was greeted with champagne sprays, tears and emotional speeches.
France won the Davis Cup from 1927 to 1933 thanks to Jean Borotra, Henri Cochet, Rene Lacoste and Jacques Brugnon and the "one for all and all for one" spirit is the backbone of Guy Forget's squad.
"We cannot imagine anything more beautiful than an atmosphere like this at Roland Garros," said captain Guy Forget who was embraced by Yannick Noah at courtside.
"We all collected memories for a lifetime today."
"This is just fabulous," said Grosjean who was carried shoulder high around the famous Roland Garros court, built specifically to host the 1928 final when France beat the U.S..
In the final match Blake, who won the doubles with Todd Martin on Saturday, beat Clement 6-4, 6-3 to give France a 3-2 winning margin.
CLAYCOURT NAIVETY
In a battle of the teams' number ones, Grosjean again revealed Roddick's lack of claycourt know-how. The American 20-year-old played clever tennis for two sets but then reverted to power and Grosjean picked his opponent's game apart.
Grosjean, ranked nine in the world, received lengthy treatment midway through the second set after going over on his right ankle when chasing a forehand along the baseline. He had his foot strapped and wore a support for the rest of the match.
Roddick, with a 7-0 winning Davis Cup record before this tie, lost his opening singles in four sets against Arnaud Clement. The Americans, champions a record 31 times, last reached the final in 1997.
"We fought hard and it was a terrific atmosphere," said American captain Patrick McEnroe. "I was proud of Andy and he played smarter today than on Friday."
Roddick, who stood behind the baseline gesticulating at McEnroe about his own inadequacies at the final point, said he would have to "go back to the drawing board" after his defeats.
"It's tough to explain, it didn't feel great," he said, revealing his serve had been hampered by a sore back.
At the start Roddick had obviously learned something from his opening day defeat by Arnaud Clement.
While still relying on his heavy first serve, he tried to move Grosjean around the court, use slice as much as power and wait for the right moment to crowd the net.
But Grosjean still had the more varied game and his drop shot earned him a clutch of key points.
The Frenchman, who beat James Blake in four sets on Friday, started the stronger and broke the American's serve in the third game when Roddick netted a simple forehand.
FIVE DEUCES
Grosjean weathered five deuces on his next service game and took the set in 42 minutes. But he made four unforced errors in his first service game of the second set to give Roddick a 2-0 lead and a spurt of 10 winning points put the 20-year-old firmly in charge.
In the sixth game of the set Grosjean tripped while reaching for a running forehand along the baseline and went over on his ankle. After a lengthy break in which it was heavily strapped, he resumed grimacing, but his movement appeared unaffected.
The Frenchman wasted two break points at 4-2 and, despite wasting two set points, Roddick served out to make it one set all in a match between the two teams' number ones.
Roddick suffered a relapse in the third set, returning to the powerplay which had failed badly against Clement.
Two smashed forehands over the baseline allowed Grosjean to break him in the sixth game and seven successive points for the Frenchman set up a two sets to one lead.
The fourth set was a nightmare for Roddick as Grosjean dug deep into his locker to pull out a string of dream shots. The American held on until the fifth game when he chose the wrong moment to rush the net and Grosjean passed him with ease.
A double fault on break point gave Grosjean a 3-2 lead and the Frenchman cruised to victory on his first match point.
"He just stayed there mentally the whole time, he just stuck around," Roddick said of his opponent. "I definitely didn't check out (of the match), I fought until the end."
