Suite à sa toute récente qualification pour les quarts de l'open d'Australie (son premier succès à ce niveau en grand chelem), aux dépens de Gaston Gaudio, les articles fleurissent à propos du "magicien de la balle jaune" (merci à protennisfan.com).
Sur theage.com.au :
Sur le site de The Australian :If you're actually interested in tennis, as opposed to ogling Russian babes or their on-court ensembles, then as Molly Meldrum used to say, do yourself a favour and check out Fabrice Santoro today.
French Fabrice is more character actor than one of the tour’s leading men. The part he plays is of the quirky, independent artist. Pete Sampras and Bjorn Borg were machines. Roger Federer is both artist and machine. But Santoro is solely an artist and, as such, has never seriously challenged — much less raged against — the machines in the matches that count.
He is much admired by the tennis cognoscenti because, in a game that grows ever more uniform, Santoro dares to play his own risky way and to defy the bland bash and crash, backcourt orthodoxy.
He plays two-handed on both sides, hits a strange slice forehand and, most eccentric of all, he hits the ball softly, relying on placement, control and surprise instead of ruthless power. His zen style infuriates the temperamental Marat Safin, who has a negative win-loss record against Santoro.
While there is no one remotely like him on the circuit and little prospect of imitators, Santoro’s slomo groundstrokes recall the Czech aesthete, Miloslav Mecir, who was fortunate to play at a time when power was less absolute and managed to make a couple of grand slam finals.
FABRICE SANTORO was unable to confirm yesterday that he had been offered the job as tennis master at St Hogwarts. Rumour has it that the Frenchman is being lined up for a role in Harry Potter and the Two-handed Prince.
At 33, the unseeded Santoro is the oldest man remaining in the draw, perhaps the wisest and certainly the most unorthodox. His wizardry has proved to be the undoing of many a foe, and his double-fisted slice forehand is the wand with which he casts a potent spell.
"No one else will play like this after, I don't think," Santoro said of his legacy.
"I think it's easier to learn a normal game than my game.
"My forehand - it's tough to learn. You can learn on the other side. Try to explain to the guy you have to hit your backhand like this - slice.
"But a slice forehand, it's unusual.
"You could say that I have two backhands, too. Backhand here and backhand here."
