"Magician" Santoro slams the door after record run

After 20 years of pro tennis and a record 69 Grand Slam appearances, "The Magician" is finally pulling a disappearing act.

Fabrice Santoro, given his sorcerer's nickname by legend Pete Sampras after a third-round battle at Indian Wells in 2002, ended the longest Slam run by any man in history with a first-round US Open loss on Wednesday.

Spanish 24th seed Juan Carlos Ferrero ousted the 44th-ranked Frenchman 6-4, 6-3, 6-3. Santoro, the oldest man in the draw at age 36, is retiring at year's end, snapping the longest active streak of Slams in a row at 45.

"I picked up a racket when I was six. Thirty years later I'm going to quit," Santoro said. "Now I'm going to change. I want to be home. I want to see my friends, spend more time with my daughter.

"I want to live a normal life but I don't know what is a normal life." Djenae Santoro, his eight-year-old daughter, can probably conjure up some answers for the magic man.

"She went to school for the first day yesterday and I was not there. I was playing the US Open and I was not able to be close to her," Santoro said. "You miss some things of your private life but your pro life is very intense."

Santoro played his first Slam at the 1989 French Open, losing his opener, and has not missed playing in a Grand Slam since the 1998 US Open, but his only career trip past the round of 16 was a 2006 Australian Open quarter-final run.

"I was so happy to be on the court. You can't do it if you're not completely in love with your sport," Santoro said.

"I wouldn't change anything. The way I played the last 20 years was a lot of fun.

"My style would be more comfortable to play in the '70s than now. It was fun to play the top guys, try to find a solution with my old game.

NEW YORK, Thursday AFP