Facing Fabrice (Victor Lamm, Tennis Week, Monday 2nd March 2009)
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Tennis is a non-contact sport, but some of the most distinctive
stylists can transform tennis into an emotional blood-sport.

Hall of Famer Arthur Ashe once summed up the experience of facing John
McEnroe this way: "It's a nick here, a slice there, and next thing you
know, you've bled to death."

At his best, there is no tennis-tourniquet for French spin-doctor
Fabrice Santoro, who wields his racquet like a scalpel and specialises
in slices, spins and cut shots when performing his clinical surgery on
court. Santoro's dazzling array of spins, slices and soft shots can be
magical sight for fans, and pose maddening problems for opponents.

"Fabrice is the kind of guy who can destroy your game," World No.10
Gaël Monfils once said of Santoro after losing to his fellow
Frenchman. "[But I] loved this match. It was mythical. I took
fantastic pleasure being out on the court today, even though I lost."

If Santoro can masterfully mutilate even a top-ten player's game, then
who does it feel for a non-pro to face him?

I found out last July, when I practised with Fabrice at my home-club
in Paris. I played collegiate tennis for UC Irvine, and was home for
the summer when Santoro was kind enough to practise with me on grass
as part of his preparation to defend his Newport-title. I was thrilled
at the opportunity to hit with him, having grown up in Paris following
Fabrice's career.

Believe it or not, in the early years of his career, he was not
playing the extreme spin-shots - particularly the sliced forehand -
that he has become famous for in the latter stages of his entertaining
20-year pro career.

For many of us French tennis-players and fans, one of the most
thrilling moments of Fabrice's early career came in 1991, when he beat
Wally Masur on the red clay of Nimes, 6-3 6-4 4-6 6-1, to clinch
France's 3:2 Davis Cup victory over Australia. It was Santoro's first
career Davis Cup match, and it galvanised tennis-fans throughout
France. Watch the highlights of the match here
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFaJaZyfjCQ> and notice that he was
playing a more conventional baseline-game, counter-punching and
effectively using his lob. As he's gotten older and opponents have
gotten bigger and stronger (and younger), Santoro's dexterity to
impart spin, slick racquet-skills and masterful use of angles have
been his personal antidote to the power-players.

So what's it like facing Fabrice on grass: one of his best surfaces?

By the time he was finished with me, I felt like my game - not to
mention competitive psyche - had been pureed by a tennis-cuisinart.
When Santoro gets you moving, it feels like someone has strapped
rollerblades on you, shoved you out of a revolving door backwards, and
asked you to chase down a spinning superball - it can be a
disorientating experience, because he forces you to hit low shots from
uncomfortable positions on the court.

The most immediate eye-opening aspect of Santoro's game - and he was
not playing his best or most intense tennis during our practice - is
how effective his first serve is: at 5-foot-10, Fabrice is not one of
the taller players on the Tour, but I found he has very good power on
his first serve, and more importantly, he can place his first and
second serves anywhere in the box. So from the first shot, he often
had me moving.

A few other things became immediately apparent: because he plays with
two hands off both sides, it is very difficult to read the direction
of his shots, he takes the ball early to take away your time so you
always feel rushed, he has amazing accuracy on his strokes, and his
anticipation is one of his best assets.

For instance, at one stretch he was consistently - and successfully -
dropshotting me. After chasing down several dropshots, I decided to
try to get into net to take the ball out of the air before it could
spin away, but Santoro recognised this, and adjusted immediately by
increasing the depth on his shots.

I wish I could say I learned a lot from playing him, but no one plays
like Santoro, so even observing his game from across the net, you'd be
hard-pressed (or foolish) to try to duplicate it. He did add a lot of
colour to my style, though: after several falls to the turf chasing
his slices and dropshots, I left the court with my clothes streaked by
green grass-stains looking like some survivor of a paint-ball war.

Thankfully, I'm not the only one who has been bamboozled by Santoro's
shotmaking-skills. A master of misdirection, the man nicknamed "the
magician" makes clean shots disappear, and has vanquished some of the
top talents in tennis. Santoro has beaten Australian Open champion
Marat Safin seven times in nine meetings, he split six career-meetings
with Andre Agassi, and he is 3:4 lifetime against 14-time Major
champion Pete Sampras.

"Yes, it's frustrating to play him," said top-ranked Roger Federer,
who has beaten Santoro in eight of their 10 meetings. "It's got
something to do with his game, but also all the missed opportunities.
The strange thing is he's a righty, but he plays his forehand like a
lefty. When you come to net, he'll never give you an easy shot."

Santoro is a player fellow pros love watching - provided they're not
playing him.

After capturing her fifth Sony Ericsson Open championship-title at
Miami last spring, Serena Williams remarked: "I'll play anybody - with
the exception of [Rafael] Nadal, [Roger] Federer and [Fabrice]
Santoro. Other than that, I'm open for anybody."

Santoro announced this will be his final season on the ATP Tour, and
tennis will be a little flatter, a little less fun, a little less
colourful without him.

"I'm just sad because he's going to stop at the end of the year," said
Gilles Simon. "He did a great job for all the tennis-players. He's
someone who is going to be missed by the public. He was a good
tennis-player. He's still a good person, and I think we need people
like him on the Tour."

But Santoro is more than a showman: he is a skilled competitor who has
often been at his best against the best opponents.

"I was very lucky. I've been doing this for 21 years, and I feel very
lucky," Santoro told the media in Dubai last week. "When I started,
I never thought I could do it for more than ten years...I will miss
this week, I will miss Dubai. I will miss Melbourne. I will miss
actually all four Grand Slams [sic], and playing in front of the
French crowd."

Following his loss to Gilles Simon in Dubai this week, I contacted
Santoro and asked if he remembered hitting with me, and if he would
mind answering a few questions for this article, and he graciously
agreed. Asked how he prepared for this - his farewell-season - Santoro
said: "A little tennis in December, just like every year at the same
time! I only practised for 15 hours before my first tournament in
January! I still enjoy playing very much, but not more than I used
to... just about the same!"

Santoro cites Agassi as his all-time favourite opponent - "I loved
playing Agassi," he said - and said no other pro influenced his unique
style. Asked how he feels about fellow pros - ranging from Federer to
Simon - offering praise of his game, Santoro told me: "Yes, all these
players had very nice things to say, and I feel flattered."

He is planning to play his final tournament at the BNP Paribas Masters
(the Paris Indoors) in Bercy from 8th to 15th November. Santoro has
become revered and respected by French fans, who figure to give him a
heart-felt send-off. Santoro said he's looking forward to trying
something different - namely sleeping in his own bed for a sustained
stretch - and staying active in tennis.

"Doing something else means sleeping in my bed first. Something that's
normal for you, but not for me," Santoro said. "Then, I will see. I
have started to think about it. Nothing is fixed yet, but every day
I'm thinking about it. I can play one part probably in tennis, and one
part I hope outside of tennis, to keep one foot in tennis, and also to
see if I'm able to do something out of tennis - it's a good challenge
for me."

In an interview with Tennis Week in Newport last summer
<http://www.tennisweek.com/news/fullstory.sps?inewsid=6613761>, Tennis
Week asked if any player reminds him of himself.
Santoro paused for a moment to ponder the question - as if scanning
the ATP rankings in his head - before replying: "No. But you know I
would like to play against me to see what it would be like?"

For me, it was an experience I won't forget: and I've still got the
grass-stains as a reminder.
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