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| | Monday, 1 July, 2002, 18:33 GMT 19:33 UK South Americans make their mark Brazil's Sa has been buoyed by the World Cup
Nicolas Lapentti and David Nalbandian battling it out for a place in the semi-finals - at Roland Garros that might be credible. But anyone predicting that at the start of Wimbledon would have to be a game short of a set. And yet one of those two will be in the last four on Friday after they lined up a quarter-final clash. Lapentti, from Ecuador, and Nalbandian, a 20-year-old Argentine, are typical South Americans.
'Don't walk on the grass' may as well be their motto, given their disliking of the surface. Lapentti, once a semi-finalist at the Australian Open, has never got beyond the second round at Wimbledon, while Nalbandian is playing here for the first time. But in this most surprising of Wimbledon tournaments, shocks have become the norm.
There has only ever been one South American in the semi-finals, now Brazilian Andre Sa has made it three into the last eight for the first time ever. "Honestly, I never dreamt of winning Wimbledon, only Roland Garros," said Lapentti. But Lapentti's ambitions have changed, as he revealed when asked if he could now go all the way. "If you had asked me before the tournament, I'd have to say no. But now I'm in the quarters I have to believe in myself. "I think I can win a few more matches," he says. Lapentti's progress must make Britain's Jamie Delgado wonder just how far he might have gone had things gone differently in their first round meeting.
Delgado at one stage served for the match, and Lapentti had to save four match points. "It's a bit of a coincidence that when I reached the semi-final in Australia I also saved match points in the first round," he says. Lapentti puts some of his success down to his experience playing Davis Cup at Wimbledon last year.
"Once you find a way how to play, it's much easier." Amazingly, Lapentti almost decided not to make the trip to Wimbledon at all. "Last year I was a bit injured - that's one of the reasons I decided not to come," he says. "I was in doubt of coming this year again." He must be glad he did. | |
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