Playing on her beloved Court Centrale in heat similar to that of her adopted home state of Florida, three-time Roland Garros champion Monica Seles out-punched Spanish blonde bomber Maria Antonia Sanchez-Lorenzo 6-1, 6-4 to gain the fourth round of Roland Garros on Friday.
Seles, who reached the final here last year, was the more powerful and determined player, adeptly smoking nine forehand and nine backhand winners while adding seven service winners. The No. 3-seeded Seles broke Sanchez-Lorenzo to go ahead 5-4 in he second set, when she ran down a drop shot and pasted a backhand down-the-line winner. Grunting louder than an old metro train, she won the match with a thumping overhead smash. Seles will face the winner of the Julie Halard-Decugis-Cristina Torrens-Valero match.
However, she is not incredibly pleased with their play the first week. “I’d give myself about a five,” Seles said.