Diligent Verkerk has day in the sun

TENNIS/Johnny Watterson Roland Garros, Paris: Martin Verkerk's accomplishments throughout the past fortnight read like the bogus type of c.v. you put in for a job way out of your range.

The 24-year-old was ranked at 86 last year, while in 2000 he was as low as 230 in the world. Before this year and enterprisingly serving down 19 aces against Argentina's Guillermo Coria yesterday to secure a place in the final against Juan Carlos Ferrero, he had never played in Roland Garros. He competed in last year's US Open and this year's Australian Open, losing in the first round both times, and he will play Wimbledon but has never hit a ball on grass, ever.

Verkerk harboured thoughts of walking away from the game but instead ground out hours on the practice courts, never believing it could ever come to him becoming the first Dutch player to reach a French Open final. But here he is still in Paris explaining why he cannot immediately prepare for Wimbledon because he is committed to club tennis in Holland. No one is more bemused than Verkerk.

"How it comes to this I cannot explain," he said. "This is actually a little bit of a joke. I mean, I don't know anymore what happened to me. They always say 'if you work hard it comes one day'. And this is the day."

Winning in the first round here he earned his first Grand Slam match, ever. Second round against Luis Horna, he won his first five-set match, ever. He then went on to run through the 29th seed, Vince Spadea, the 11th seed, Rainer Schüttler, and the 1998 champion and fourth seed, Carlos Moya, in the quarter-finals - his first win, ever, over a top-five player.

The Dutchman, who won his match over the hotly favoured Coria 7-6, 6-4, 7-6, had twice contemplated quitting the game because he believed he was not mentally strong enough. But he earned the first, tight set on a tiebreak, Coria, a slight, quick player being unable to handle the weight or read Verkerk's deliveries. Nine aces helped.

Two more breaks in the second set for 6-2 were followed by a third-set tie-break, which Verkerk's big serving arm won to love.

A couple of incidents suggested it was never going to be Coria's match. At one point he put his hand up to catch a ball hit back from Verkerk, but the glancing fumble sent him clutching his hand in pain. In the second set he threw his racquet at a wide ball and instead hit a ball girl in the face. The incident knocked the placid Coria off his game and he narrowly escaped being disqualified.

"I apologised to the young girl. I didn't really try to kill her when I threw the racquet," he said afterwards. "I felt very badly for the next few points. Perhaps that is why I lost the second set."

Last year's champion, Albert Costa, finally ran out of gas, falling in three sets, 6-3, 7-6, 6-4, to his compatriot Ferrero. Although leading 3-2 in previous meetings, the 23-year-old needed only three sets to beat the clearly deflated player who defeated him in last year's Roland Garros final.

Costa, who prior to the semi-final had played 23 sets over 18 hours 31 minutes, compared to Ferrero's modest 11 hours eight minutes, looked physically spent in the latter stages of the contest as Ferrero used his pace and accuracy off the clay to move the 27-year-old champion around.

The match lasted two hours and 44 minutes, Costa's shortest of the tournament, and while it was no surprise, Ferrero was relieved at the outcome. The younger player broke Costa only five times in the match, winning the first set 6-3 before a tie-break was required to settle the second. Finally a break in the seventh game of the third for a 5-3 lead set up Ferrero to serve for the match in the 10th game.

"Maybe at the end I was a little bit tired but physically I was feeling good," said Costa. "I had good chances in the second set. He did a great job today."