Henman crashes to earth

TENNIS/French Open: In the middle of the second set, when Tim Henman was locked in his tennis inferno, a reedy female voice with an English accent shrieked out over the Roland Garros centre court: "Come on, Timmo!"

The noise cut through the normal bustle of mobile phones and chatter and at that moment the plot for this semi-final came to light. The voice, the timing, the moment put Henman back in Wimbledon. He would lose to Guillermo Coria.

And so it went, Henman having magically worked his way from the sick bed 12 days ago to do what no British player had done in Paris for 41 years by making it to the semi-final.

But Coria, a tough Argentinian from Rufina, had the grunt and grind and will to see out his anxious first set, then set about dismantling Henman for over an hour.

Henman, playing confident and strikingly offensive tennis early on, both traded with Coria and asked questions of him at the net. It worked perfectly for 35 minutes: the Briton won the first set 6-3 and the momentum propelled him at the same high-octane pace deeper into the match.

If Henman could bottle what it was in that first set that had him persecute Coria to the point of the 22-year-old smashing his racquet on the ground, he would not still be seeking his first Grand Slam win.

"The racquet, that was a good thing because it helped me release some tension," said Coria.

There was little chance Coria would deflate. Regarded as the best in the world on clay, he arrived in Paris having lost just once in 22 matches. He will now meet his compatriot Gaston Gaudio in tomorrow's final, after Gaudio defeated David Nalbandian 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-0 to set up the first final at Roland Garros between two Argentinians.

Henman essentially blossomed for a set and a half, save for a short flourish in the fourth set, when it looked that he was somehow going to push the match to a fifth, then wilted. The late revival was a last gasp rather than a second wind.

"He was better than me today and that's, I think, the bottom line," said Henman. "I played the best clay-court player in the world. I think his record says that," he added, insisting there was no downside to the tournament.

"None (downside) at all. If I was physically and mentally exhausted then maybe. I've still got over two weeks. I'm looking forward to going to Queens."

Coria's offensive, which began in the seventh game of the second set, continued until the fourth game of the fourth set. For 13 straight games the third seed dominated the court, Henman losing his normally strong serve for six service games in a row.

That statistic alone illustrated Coria's ability to chase down balls and strafe the baseline and corners. He broke Henman twice in the second set for 6-4, then raced through the third 6-0 in just 30 minutes. In that set the ninth seed was hitting only 40 per cent of his first serves.

"I was very focused, more focused than in other times when I was in trouble," said Coria. "He seemed a little lost. I actually didn't lose my nerve - I knew I'd get an opportunity. In the big moments I stayed calm, played deep. I made him move around the court, and that was important."

Henman left with pride, the 7-5 fifth set at least suggesting the fight he showed all week is alive and well for Wimbledon.

Facing Gaudio in the final, Coria will play a more formulaic clay opponent than Henman. Gaudio, whose run to the final is probably more stunning than that of Henman, goes into his first Grand Slam final after 21 attempts. Before this week, the round of 16 was as far as the 25-year-old had reached, and that when Hicham Arazi had to retire because of leg cramps in 2002.

Gaudio took the first set 6-3, winning the last four games, before a marathon second set. Crucially, the tie-break went against Nalbandian, Gaudio taking it 7-5 before rattling his compatriot 6-0 in the third. At the end Gaudio wrapped his head in a towel and burst into tears.

"I was thinking about all the effort I have made, when I was a kid and all the dreams I had. I was thinking to be in the finals of the French Open and now I am. So happy for me, that's why there was a little bit of emotion," said Gaudio.

MEN'S SINGLES: Semi-finals: Gaston Gaudio (Arg) bt (8) David Nalbandian (Arg) 6-3 7-6 (7-5) 6-0; (3) Guillermo Coria (Arg) bt (9) Tim Henman (Brit) 3-6 6-4 6-0 7-5. WOMEN'S DOUBLES: Semi-finals: (1) Virginia Ruano Pascual (Spa) and Paola Suarez (Arg) bt Sandrine Testud (Fra) and Roberta Vinci (Ita) 6-0 6-1; (2) Svetlana Kuznetsova (Rus) and Elena Likhovtseva (Rus) bt (5) Martina Navratilova (US) and Lisa Raymond (US) 6-2 6-4. MIXED DOUBLES: Final: Tatiana Golovin (Fra) and Richard Gasquet (Fra) bt (4) Cara Black (Zim) and Wayne Black (Zim) 6-3 6-4.