NOTEBOOK | French Open

Four Argentines in quarters: David Nalbandian thinks it's "quite unusual." Gaston Gaudio says he's one step closer to a boyhood dream. Argentina has four players in a Grand Slam tournament quarterfinals for the first time -- and perhaps that's not so shocking at the French Open, given their comfort on clay courts. But tell that to them. "It's really surprising for everyone," said the eighth-seeded Nalbandian, who overpowered No. 20 Marat Safin of Russia 7-5, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3 in the fourth round Monday. "It's incredible." Gaudio beat another Russian, Igor Andreev, 6-4, 7-5, 6-3. They join Guillermo Coria and Juan Ignacio Chela in the final eight.
Bad language: Marat Safin's argument is this: If other professional athletes can swear without getting fined, why not tennis players? "You haven't seen the soccer players? I mean we are pretty decent compared to them," Safin said, noting also that NFL and NBA players in the United States tend to use "a lot of good words" during games -- without penalty. Prompted by a reporter's question, Safin returned to his discussion of what's wrong with his sport. He said tennis has too many rules, which are sapping entertainment value for viewers. The Russian, who is seldom shy about expressing his emotions on or off court, was fined $500 earlier in the tournament for throwing a racket.
Bryan brothers: Two points from defeat in the quarterfinals, defending men's doubles champions Bob and Mike Bryan rallied to win. The top-seeded American twins beat No. 7 Wayne Black and Kevin Ullyett of Zimbabwe 6-7 (6), 7-6 (3), 7-5. With Black and Ullyett ahead 6-5 in the second set, and Mike Bryan serving, the score reached 30-all. But the U.S. duo held, forcing a tie-breaker. Later, Black was broken while serving to stay in the match down 6-5 in the final set. The third-seeded pair of Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi won the only other men's doubles quarterfinal Monday, defeating Karsten Braasch and Sargis Sargsian 6-3, 6-4.
-- Associated Press