Korda ends hopes of French victory

CZECH qualifier Petr Korda broke the hearts of the Bercy Stadium crowd in Paris yesterday when he defeated France's last surviving player Arnaud Boetsch in the quarter-finals at the $2.5 million Paris Open.

Korda, who had lost five of his previous six matches against the Frenchman and who was a French Open finalist in 1992 snatched a thrilling 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (8/6) victory in two hours 11 minutes to reach a semi-final showdown against either Russian fourth-seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov who beat Paul Haarhuis of the Netherlands 7-6. 6-1.

A controversial missed smash by Boetsch and a lucky net cord by Korda in a dramatic final tie-break ended the Frenchman's hopes.

The 27-year-old Boetsch, who had put out second-seed Michael Chang in the previous round, let his chances of revival slip after taking a 4-2 lead in the second-set.

Earlier Magnus Gustafsson of Sweden beat Swizterland's Marc Rosset 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 to reach a semi-final clash against twelfth-seed Thomas Enqvist.

Enqvist defeated compatriot Stefan Edberg 6-4, 7-6 (8/6) in just over one and a half hours late last night. At one stage Edberg led 5-2 in the second-set tie-break before Enqvist surged back to claim his place in the last four.

Korda, 28, attributed his triumph to "hard work" and revealed that just 12 months ago he was ready to quit tennis. "I was ready to quit but my coach Tony Pickard and my wife talked me into coming back. Now I'm really happy they made me change my mind.

"I had surgery on my left groin last November and when I came back I had a little dream maybe win a tournament. Then the first tournament I played won indoors.

"After the Australian Open I hurt my back and didn't play for two months but then I started to play well again but I had to have another operation - this time on my right groin. It was just after the French Open.

"Since then I have been working really hard and now I'm really happy with the way I'm playing. And above all I'm enjoying my tennis."

A bitterly disappointed Boetsch said: "I suppose you could say he was a little lucky at the end but I always knew it was going to be difficult.

"He was top-ten before he was injured and he's come back and he's winning matches."