PARIS, 4 June 2003 — In a French Open battle of the ages, Guillermo Coria punched a hole clean through Andre Agassi’s steel defenses to reach his first Grand Slam semifinal yesterday.

One match short of his 1,000th as a professional, Agassi could scarcely have faced a man who hits the ball harder or with as much accuracy as the unassuming Argentine who triumphed 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 in a fraction over two-and-a-half hours.

“It’s incredible, a dream come true to be here in the Roland Garros semifinals,” the 21-year-old said before leaving the centre court.

Crashing the ball with similar destructive force was Dutchman Martin Verkerk, who clattered his way past former champion Carlos Moya 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 4-6 and 8-6.

Playing in only his third Grand Slam event, it looked as though Verkerk had lost his chance when he allowed the Spaniard to claw back a two-set deficit.

But, lashing at the ball with equal abandon on both the forehand and backhand side, his game clicked once more in the fifth set and he clinched it for his biggest win to date. Coria took on Agassi at his own game. He stood and slugged it out with the 33-year-old master intimidator and won.

Serena Crushes Mauresmo

to Reach Semis

World number one Serena Williams, bidding for her fifth successive Grand Slam title, hammered home favorite Amelie Mauresmo 6-1, 6-2 to reach the French Open semifinals yesterday.

Second seed Kim Clijsters also strode confidently into the last four with a 6-2, 6-1 thumping of Spain’s Conchita Martinez.

Justine Henin-Hardenne kept the chances of an all-Belgian final alive when she dismissed American Chanda Rubin 6-3, 6-2.

Henin-Hardenne will now play American Williams whose steely concentration and power proved far too much for Mauresmo.

Clijsters’ next opponent, unseeded Nadia Petrova, nervously outlasted compatriot Vera Zvonareva 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 to become the first Russian semifinalist in the women’s tournament for almost 30 years.

Serena threatened to blow her French opponent off court during the first 11 games, silencing the expectant Roland Garros crowd with her superior shot-making.

At 0-4 in the second set, Mauresmo finally began to make an impact but unforced errors on key points repeatedly cost her dear and the match was over in 64 minutes.

Clijsters — a losing finalist here in 2001 — took one step nearer her maiden Grand Slam crown by dominating former Wimbledon champion Martinez throughout the 69-minute match.

Clijsters had struggled a little against Bulgarian Magadalena Maleeva in the previous round and she said she was taking Petrova very seriously, even though the Russian is ranked a lowly 76th in the world.

Petrova’s win over Zvonareva was more a battle of nerves than the display you would expect in a Grand Slam quarterfinal.

Petrova’s more attacking approach eventually paid off against her 18-year-old opponent, who caused the shock of the women’s singles two days ago by beating third seed Venus Williams in the fourth round.

The two had met 10 years ago as children, a match Zvonareva remembered as her most memorable experience, having lost 6-0, 6-0.

Petrova is the first Russian woman to reach the last four at Roland Garros since Olga Morozova did so in 1975.

The last Russian woman to reach a Grand Slam semifinal was Elena Dementieva at the 2000 US Open.

Bittersweet Victory as Paes

Downs Old Partner Bhupathi

It was a bittersweet victory at Roland for Leander Paes as the Indian doubles specialist advanced to the semifinals with Czech partner David Rikl.

The win meant even more to Paes because it came at the expense of his estranged former doubles partner Mahesh Bhupathi, with whom he won two French Open titles in 1999 and 2001, and Max Mirnyi of Belarus.

Paes and Rikl, the fifth seeds, rallied from a set down, breaking their second seeded opponent’s when they were serving for the match at 5-4, to take the tie 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.

And Paes admitted that the match was one of the most important in his career.