PARIS, 7 June 2003 — Juan Carlos Ferrero, the third seed, ended the French Open reign of defending champion and fellow Spaniard Albert Costa 6-3, 7-6 (7 5), 6-4 to reach the men’s singles final for the second straight year here yesterday.
It was sweet revenge for the 23-year-old Ferrero, who lost last year’s trophy at Roland Garros to his countryman and who next meets big-hitting Martin Verkerk, the first ever Dutchman to make the final after he earlier defeated Argentine Guillermo Coria in straight sets 7-6, 6-4, 7-6.
After coming through a Grand Slam record of four five-set matches and having given his opponents a two-set start on three occasions Costa, seeded ninth, had very little left in the tank, and had to come up with something big to get past Ferrero, bursting to win his first Grand Slam.
“I was a bit tired this afternoon,” admitted Costa. “But I hope to come back again next year and go one further again. I hope Juan Carlos goes on to win the tournament this year,” he added.
Ferrero got off to a flying start in the first set breaking his opponent’s opening serve, to build up a comfortable 4-1 lead, staving off two break points against him in the sixth game with aces.
But signs of nerves began to show as Costa fought back and Ferrero was broken to love while serving for the set, before stealing himself to come straight back breaking 27-year-old Costa to take the set in 49 minutes.
The defending champion looked set to begin his famed fightback when he broke Ferrero in the opening game of the second set, taking a two-game lead, and in the sixth game saved break points.
Ferrero fought his way back on equal terms to force a tie-break which he won. Even at two sets up the man from Onteniente knew better than to write off Costa, who has not won a title since his maiden Grand Slam win here 12 months ago.
Despite a scare or two Costa desperately hung on but signs of tiredness began to show in the seventh game of the third set when Ferrero got the break to lead 4-3 after his opponent’s jaded legs went from under him as he attempted a baseline return.
Ferrero moved in for the kill, but his flagging opponent defended with pride, conjuring up winners to hold serve for 4-5. Ferrero pounded down his seventh ace and went 40-0 for three match points, the first of which Costa saved when Ferrero netted. But last year’s runner-up made no mistake on his second to put the duo on equal terms with three wins each in six meetings.
Ferrero was playing in his fourth straight semi here, a run which matches those of former greats Bjorn Borg, Mats Wilander, Ivan Lendl and Jim Courier, and now wants to move a step forward for his tenth title and first Grand Slam trophy.
He has already defeated the 24-year-old Verkerk in their only previous meeting on clay at Kitzbuhel last year but who is playing like a man inspired in this tournament. The big-serving Dutchman roared into the final on Friday, beating Argentine seventh seed Coria in 2 hour 40 minutes.
Only one Dutchman has even won a Grand Slam title. Richard Krajicek, like Verkerk a huge server, landed the 1996 Wimbledon crown. Verkerk, a late developer who won his first title at Milan in February, is only the third Dutchman to reach a Grand Slam final with Tom Okker having been 1968 US Open runner-up.
His 400,000-euro ($468,000 ) pay check for reaching the final doubles his entire previous career earnings. “I still don’t know what happened. It’s a fantastic moment for me. It’s a dream for me to be in the final of Roland Garros. It’s unbelievable,” said Verkerk, who wiped away tears of joy at the end when Coria had completed a miserable tiebreak by double faulting.
“He was much better in the first set than I was — but then I took more risks on his serve and also in the tiebreak. All my friends wanted to come — and it was great to have their support. But I wasn’t so cool — I was really nervous.”
A tight opening set saw a ninth ace from the 1.91m Verkerk, dwarfing his opponent by 16 centimeters, go level at 6-6 to force the tiebreak. There, Verkerk stepped up his game and took it 7-4, a brilliant backhand having brought him back from 0-2.
Coria responded by throwing his racket, his ‘missile’ grazing a ballboy. Having seen off 1999 champion Andre Agassi in the quartersfinals, the Argentine, who came here having lifted the Hamburg masters, was a hot favorite to beat Verkerk who prior to this tournament had never won a single Grand Slam match in his life.
But Verkerk’s monstrous serves and all-court style had seen off 1998 winner Carlos Moya in his quarterfinal in five sets — the Spaniard his third, seeded victim after Vince Spadea of the United States and Germany’s Rainer Schuttler, the Australian Open finalist. Verkerk’s run here has already taken him to the brink of the top 10 in the ATP Champions Race, the barometer to season form. Coria stands third behind Ferrero and Agassi.
Coria, putting his tiebreak loss behind him, broke at the start of the second set but Verkerk scored his first break of the match in some style, taking the Argentine’s serve to love with a superb backhand in the fourth game.
He then moved 3-2 clear before Coria misfielded a ball following an off-target first serve, spraining his left thumb in the process. But the 21-year-old nicknamed El Mago (the magician) gritted his teeth and moved to 40-15 on the Verkerk serve in the ninth game when a Dutch half volley went astray.
Coria fired his first break point wide on the backhand, then netted a routine forehand. A pair of volleys from close in gave Verkerk the game and the orange-clad hordes backing the underdog roared their approval.
