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7/14/08 11:51 PM | David Cox
Fabrice Santoro continue to defy the march of time, now nearly 36 the veteran made it back to back Newport titles beating Prakash Amritraj 6-3, 7-5 over 20 years since he turned professional
When he finally hangs up his racket Santoro won't be remembered as one of the greatest players of all time but he's certainly been one of the most entertaining, a unique genius and we won't see his like again and his longevity at the top has been amazing.
From early on this week it was very clear he was the man to beat and even the inspired tennis which Amritraj has produced all tournament was not enough. After an early exchange of breaks it was Santoro who stamped his mark on the final, going 3-1 up. His serving proved the benchmark in the opening set and he secured it 6-3 with a lucky netcord but there was nothing lucky about Santoro's game throughout the afternoon
The second set was a lot tenser, going with serve till 5-5 when Santoro converted his 5th break point of the match to lead 6-5. It was the hammer blow and moments later the Frenchman was champion once again in style with a glorious backhand pass
Reflecting on the match after a chat with dad Vijay, Prakash said “We talked after the match. He told me my strategy was right, but I just needed to be a little more aggressive.”
He was understandably disappointed but definately taking the positives from the week “I know that I can compete at this level and compete in the final. It was not as if I or my dad were surprised by the results. My father has great faith in my game and my goal is to just stay healthy and stay hungry to be able to compete week after week.”
Earlier this year reports suggested that Santoro would call it quits at the end of the season but from post-match interviews here he sounded very willing to continue albeit with a reduced schedule “When you start a career at 16 years old, never, ever can you imagine you'll win a tournament 20 years later. I played my first French Open in 1989,” he said. “I have the same passion for the game as five, 10, 15 years ago, maybe more .”
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