Paris: Julien Benneteau entered his fourth-round match against Alberto Martin at the French Open on Monday wondering if his left thigh injury would cause problems.
As it turned out, Benneteau didn't have anything to worry much. He reached his first career Grand Slam quarter-final when Martin stopped playing because of back problems.
Martin's back started giving trouble while he was serving, trailing 3-1 in the first set, and he quit at 5-1.
"Even now, even when I shook hands with him, and when I sat in the chair, I still don't believe it happened," said Benneteau, France's first man in the round of eight at Roland Garros since Sebastien Grosjean in 2002.
"Ouarter-finals at French Open! I could not believe it. Incredible."
His previous best at a major was a pair of third-round results, at the 2004 French Open and at this year's Australian Open.
Now Benneteau will meet Ivan Ljubicic, who beat Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo of Spain 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Benneteau also is into the doubles quarter-finals with countryman Nicolas Mahut, and they're scheduled to face top-seeded American twins Bob and Mike Bryan on Tuesday.
Martin was in the fourth round of a major for the first time in 31 attempts.
He got through the first round when fifth-seeded Andy Roddick quit while trailing because of a left ankle injury.
But the unseeded Spaniard couldn't reach a Grand Slam quarter-final for the first time.
"When I was serving, I felt it suddenly. I was feeling OK until then," Martin said. "I couldn't run very well."
Young Young
Before arriving in Paris last week, Donald Young was waking up at 5 am back home in Atlanta (USA) to watch the French Open on TV.
Jet lag hasn't been a problem for the 16-year-old, who breezed through his second-round match in the junior tournament against Chile's Ricardo Urzua-Rivera, winning 6-3, 6-1 on Monday.
"I'm doing better than I did last year," said Young, eliminated in second-round play here in 2005. "I just hope I can keep it up."
Teen Battle
Even the unwavering support of the home fans couldn't help France's Gael Monfils at the French Open on Monday, though it did ruffle the feathers of his opponent, Novak Djokovic.
"The crowd was really going crazy for Gael," said Serbia-Montenegro's Djokovic, who beat Monfils 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5), 6-3 on Monday to reach his first Grand Slam quarter-final.
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The match between 19-year-olds provided a possible glimpse of the future of tennis.
For Monfils, the magic of his previous matches - all five-setters - was gone.
"I wasn't able to be the warrior I can be," Monfils said. "Physically, I wasn't tip-top."
He called for a trainer in the first set because of a muscle problem in his backside, and wasn't as good as covering the court as earlier in the tournament.
While the Frenchman did manage to serve up a few crowd-pleasing moves - including one shot between his legs - Djokovic dominated the match.
"Gael was really tired," said Djokovic, who'll face defending champion Rafael Nadal next. "You could see those three matches behind him."
Ljubicic moves on
Ivan Ljubicic believes he owes his success on clay at the French Open to his recent problems on clay elsewhere.
The fourth-seeded Ljubicic lost in the first round in Rome and Hamburg before coming to Roland Garros, where he reached the quarter-finals on Monday.
"I prepared (for) this Roland Garros very well," he said. "Early exits in Rome and Hamburg helped me to actually work on my game and my body."
Although none of his five career titles came on clay, Ljubicic believes that playing on the surface is second nature for him.
"Until the age of 15, I didn't play on anything else," he said. "I'm big. I have a good serve. Actually, (it) took me more time to find my game on hard than on clay because when you grow up on something, you always feel comfortable on that."
Still, he never made it past the third round at the French Open until this year, with five first-round losses in seven appearances.
Martina vs Martina
Martina Hingis was scheduled to face the woman she's named after - Martina Navratilova - in mixed doubles on Monday.
But Hingis and partner Mahesh Bhupathi pulled out of their second-round match against Navratilova and Bob Bryan, without giving a reason.
Hingis advanced to the singles quarter-finals by finishing off a 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 victory over Shahar Peer in the fourth round on Monday.
Hingis and Navratilova never have played singles against each other. They did meet once in doubles, when Hingis and Anna Kournikova beat Navratilova and Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario 6-3, 6-4 in the first round at Fielderstadt, Germany, in 2001.
Ballboy hurt
A ballboy had a bloody nose after taking a ball to the face during Rafael Nadal's match against Lleyton Hewitt.
Hewitt shot's deflected off something and smacked the 16-year-old boy in the face.
"With the ball coming at him that fast, he didn't have the time to react," said Ridha Bensalha, who trains the French Open's ballkids.
After the point, Nadal noticed the boy's nose was bleeding and stopped play.
"I asked the umpire to come and have a look, do something about it," Nadal said.
Said Bensalha: "All the ballboys love Rafa. He's their favorite - especially after today."
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