Verkerk continues his rise

Martin Verkerk just doesn't fit in. If you cannot speak Spanish then the latter stages of the French Open should be foreign to you - but try telling that to the big-serving Dutchman after he stormed into the semi-finals last night.

Of the six players still left in this tournament, five are Spanish speakers, highlighting where the power lies in clay court tennis. Two of the survivors come from Argentina and Chile, but you get the idea.

Second seed Andre Agassi, one match short of his 1,000th as a professional, was the major casualty yesterday, falling 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 to seventh seed Guillermo Coria. The Argentinian's excellent form leading into Roland Garros continues and he faces a semi-final clash with Verkerk, who is very much a Grand Slam rookie. He has become only the fifth man in the Open era to reach the last four on his debut in Paris.

Verkerk, who is ranked 46th after rising 84 places last year, dropped to the clay after his 3hrs 52min 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 4-6, 8-6 triumph over Carlos Moya, one of the usual suspects in Paris where he brings that heady mix of clay court excellence and good looks to the tournament.

You really have to be a pretty cool tennis player to get away with the look Moya is currently sporting: a sleeveless white T-shirt that has yet to be given the go ahead by Wimbledon chiefs, who remain unconvinced it fits into the category stipulating "appropriate dress".

The sleeveless look is designed to give Moya a feeling of comfort and it must be a mere coincidence that it allows the 1998 French Open champion to show off the tattoo that wraps itself around his right upper arm. If Antonio Banderas was a tennis player he would look like Moya - right down to the perfectly positioned head band.

All that window dressing counted for nothing as 27 aces sped past Moya's outstretched racket and there is no doubt that Verkerk will be a major force on his debut at Wimbledon.

While Moya went for the chic tennis kit look, Verkerk was happily clad in a plain round necked T-shirt and long shorts whose white colour was only broken by the occasional orange logo. Verkerk's national colour was also worn as a sweat band on the right arm that delivered so many big shots in what was only the second five-set match of a career that had been going nowhere fast until two years ago.

That's when Verkerk started to climb up the rankings and a first tour title win Milan in February proved he was now a force on the circuit. The 24-year-old has now won 11 of his last 13 matches and has a career Grand Slam record that reads five wins and two defeats. That's how little we have seen of him at the major events.

Verkerk, who has beaten seeded players in his last three rounds, said: "It's unbelievable and I don't know how it happened. This was only my second five-set match and both have been here and so I have a 100 per cent record! I started to believe I could achieve things this year after I won in Milan and that gave me a lot of confidence but if you had said then in February that I would be in the semi-finals of Roland Garros I would have said 'lets get a lot of beers and after that, I may believe you'! I realise that when I celebrate a good shot I make an ugly face but I am not here to be beautiful - I am here to win matches. It is also how I am and I won't be changing. I am enjoying myself too much."

For 21-year-old Coria, who served a seven-month ban in 2001 for testing positive for a banned substance and is suing the vitamin company who manufactured the product, the only real problem was coming to terms with the legend standing on the other side of the net - even if Agassi was battling to avoid a quarter-final exit in Paris for the third successive year. Coria, who wore an Argentina football shirt for his press conference, said: "It was very difficult to play my idol Andre Agassi.

"After losing the first set I was able to leave my fears behind and I will never forget this match in the rest of my life. I never thought I wasn't going to come back to tennis after the ban. Verkerk is four times my size, he is a huge guy who I have never played before." Coria is 5ft 9ins compared to the 6ft 3ins frame the Holland's Verkerk brings to the court.

The battle for semi-final places continues today, as third seed Juan Carlos Ferrero, of Spain, meets 19th seed Fernando Gonzalez, of Chile. In the day's other quarter-final, defending champion Albert Costa has an all-Spanish battle with 28th seed Tommy Rebredo.

One thing is for certain, those matches are going to take an age, particularly the one involving Costa who just thrives on the red stuff.

Meanwhile, Scotland's Andrew Murray and David Brewer are through to the last 16 of the French Open boys tournament.

Murray plays top seed Maros Maghdatis, of Cyprus, while Brewer faces France's Jo-wilfred Tsonga.

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