Kuerten's performance approaches perfection

There were a number of certainties before yesterday's semi-finals at Roland Garros. The first was that Juan Carlos Ferrero would pressurise Gustavo Kuerten. The other was that both semi-finals would be five abrasive sets of attrition. So much for two weeks of looking and learning. Both matches were finished briskly in three and Kuerten ousted Ferrero 6-4, 6-4, 6-3. The Spaniard hardly set a foot in the contest.

While the tournament undoubtedly benefits from Kuerten's progression and his tilt at a third title, local hopes were crushed by a patient Alex Corretja. The 13th seed, who took advantage of Sebastein Grosjean's errors, competed like the sensible clay court player he is, unerringly returning the ball for the Frenchman to foul.

But Kuerten's dismissal of Ferrero was singularly the most impressive performance of the tournament. Just a match point off departing against journeyman Michael Russell in the fourth round, "Guga" is clearly at the level which allowed him to win last year.

Victory in tomorrow's final would put him in quite an elite club. Only Bjorn Borg (6), Henri Cochet (4), Rene Lacoste, Ivan Lendl and Mats Wilander have won three or more French Open titles.

"Today I think was pretty much close to perfection," said Kuerten. "I felt like I was playing my best tennis. I was moving well and I could see my tactics quite well. I was pretty much aggressive, more so than I was in the last round."

In Ferrero, Kuerten faced an opponent who had beaten him just a few weeks ago in the Tennis Masters Series Rome Final.

Given that the top seed had won 42 of his 45 previous matches on clay and the fact that the lithe Ferrero had dropped only one set en route to the semi-final, there was little evidence to suggest such a lop-sided rout.

"My attitude had to be strong," said Kuerten. "I couldn't let him control the match or let him breath free for thinking about what he wanted to do. I tried to surprise him, of course, with stronger and deeper shots. I cannot wish to play better than this."

And so he did. Despite his serve being broken first for 4-3, Kuerten's shot-making was again at a different level. He immediately broke back for 4-4, served, then broke a second time to take the set 6-4.

The second set similarly began with an early exchange before the Brazilian comfortably broke in the 10th game for 6-4. Just one break in the third and Kuerten was back in the locker room in a little over two hours.

"It's no coincidence that Guga is number one," said Ferrero. "He was inspired today, very aggressive with a really good serve. He made me run all over the place. I'll be mad about it for two months . . . no that's a joke."

Kuerten also indicated that he would probably not be playing at Wimbledon this year. As far as you can get from a serve-volley player, the Brazilian is following the early career decision of Andre Agassi, who, having played Wimbledon once, didn't return for three years between 1988 and 1990. He then came back to win the title in 1992.

"I think to stop for three or four days and start to practise on grass again to play in Wimbledon is maybe going to be too much," he said.

Corretja, one of the few players to be love-bombed by the media due to his fluency in French, Spanish and English and his affable off court personality, plays a game that is difficult to resist.

Smart, unspectacular, enduring, sensible, Corretja, now in his 10th consecutive year at Roland Garros, won the first set in a tiebreak before allowing Grosjean race to a 3-0 lead in the second set. Hitting 23 unforced errors, the Frenchman then contrived to lose the next five games to trail 5-3 and hand the set to Corretja.

Always staying in the point, Corretja's clever play kept him strongly in the match. By knowing when to drive for a point or simply knock it back, Grosjean was forced to look for the winners as he had done so clinically against Agassi in the quarter-final.

But the forehand did not discharge as it had done in sending the petulant American out of the competition. Just one service break for 6-4 ensured Corretja's place in the final.

"If I was not able to be in a final like this then I think with the practice and things it would be tough for me to continue," said the 27-year-old 1998 Roland Garros runner-up in response to a question about his age.

The final, therefore, is between Kuerten, described by Yevgeny Kafelnikov as playing like Picasso and Corretja, less creative but with more DIY endeavour.