Groom proves best man

TENNIS/French Open: Albert Costa, one of the least prepossessing players on the men's circuit, albeit a considerable craftsmen on clay, reached the final of the French Open here at Roland Garros yesterday afternoon with a 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory over his fellow Spaniard Alex Corretja.

He was flat on his back when Corretja put a backhand wide to give him the match. Others were flat on their backs in sheer surprise. He will play another Spaniard tomorrow after Juan Carlos Ferrero beat Russia's Marat Safin 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 in the other semi-final.

Costa's girlfriend Cristina gave birth to twin daughters last year and the couple will get married next Friday, with Corretja as his best man: "It's going to be a great moment, but for the moment I don't want to think too much about the wedding."

It was another cool, windy day in Paris, which did not really suit either player. However, Costa has been trying to bring an extra dimension of aggression into his game and this was the difference in the opening two sets. It was only in the third that Corretja began to rediscover his form, forcing Costa back.

There is little fundamentally appealing about the style of either man and after 12 previous meetings neither had anything to surprise the other with. It was a question of which would wear the other down and Costa arrived in the better form. That was apparent in the first week and underlined when he defeated Gustavo Kuerten, the reigning champion, in the fourth round, thereby ending a six-match losing streak against the Brazilian.

Corretja has been suffering from an allergy and was never at his sharpest or most durable. However, he came into the match with a 7-5 advantage over Costa and, when he took a 3-1 lead in the first set, it seemed he might be on his way to a third French Open final.

For Costa this was totally new territory, although of the current players only Kuerten has won more clay-court titles. However, Roland Garros has rarely been kind to Costa. As a 20-year-old he reached the last eight in 1995, losing to the Austrian iron man Thomas Muster in five sets, with Muster going on to take the title. He then had to wait a further five years before reaching his second quarter-final, which he again lost, this time against Franco Squillari of Argentina.

Costa admitted that playing Corretja had not been easy. Corretja suffered from the same problems four years ago when he played Moya in a generally lifeless final. "You cannot forget who is on the other side of the net but you have to try to. We are so used to training with each other and we scream and throw our rackets around; we are very emotional about tennis."

This was hardly evident yesterday, the most dramatic moment coming at the beginning of the fourth set when Corretja slipped on the clay and fell heavily. Aside from his pride, he did not hurt himself unduly, although it took the trainer eight minutes to clean up his right hand which was bleeding. Costa watched with genuine concern.

Now the man from Lerida is just one match away from what would be a remarkable achievement. .