PARIS, June 9: Spaniard Albert Costa beat compatriot Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-1, 6-0, 4-6, 6-3 in the French Open final on Sunday.

Humbled in the first two sets of the all-Spanish clash, Ferrero fought back bravely to win a tense third set 6-4 but it was only a reprieve.

Solid and consistent throughout, Costa broke a struggling Ferrero twice in the fourth set to earn the victory on a double fault from his hapless opponent.

The 11th-seeded Ferrero started off sluggishly as, after a short rain break at the beginning of the opening set, his more experienced opponent won 11 games in succession.

Costa, who has not won a tournament for the past three years, was far more focused and consistent in the first two sets and never let his young opponent into the match.

The final had only lasted six minutes when play was halted by rain for some 20 minutes with Costa leading 1-1 30-0.

When play resumed, the Barcelona player held serve to love and broke Ferrero to lead 3-1.Costa again held serve to lead 4-1 against favourite Ferrero, who struggled to find his rhythm.

Making an unusually high number of unforced errors, Ferrero again dropped serve to trail 5-1.

Costa clinched the set 6-1 on his first set point after 22 minutes of play.

The nightmare continued in the second set for the “mosquito” and he quickly found himself two sets down.

The 22-year-old Spaniard won only ten points in the 24-minute set as he was unable to even register his name on the scoreboard.

Costa was simply faster, stronger and varying his game when it mattered, while Ferrero looked completely lost on court.

There were long cheers from the crowd when Ferrero finally won the first game of the third set and went on to break Costa in the next game.

But Costa held his nerve to break straight back before levelling at 2-2.

Ferrero continued to spray his shots in the next game, even sending a couple of returns into the stands, but he managed to hold serve and earn a break point in the next game.

Although Costa did not falter on that occasion, Ferrero gained the crucial break in the tenth game to grab the set 6-4.

The level of play improved dramatically in the beginning of fourth set as both players looked for openings and angles.

But Costa, helped by the net chord on break point, was more consistent and he took Ferrero’s serve to lead 3-1.

The mosquito stung back to level at 3-3 but Costa again gained the upper hand and broke back immediately. A game to love followed as Costa led 5-3.

With his back against the wall, Ferrero managed to save one match point before double faulting on the second to hand Costa victory after two hours and 30 minutes.

Afterwards, an elated Costa said: “I don’t know what happened but in the final I just played really, really well.

“Before the French Open I was preparing to win the tournament but I didn’t really believe in myself, now I start to.”

Before this event, the 20th-seeded Spaniard had gone 65 tournaments without winning a title. His last triumph in a final was in Kitzbuehel in 1999.

Costa has now won 12 titles in his career, predictably they have all come on clay.

Costa is the lowest seed ever to have won a Grand Slam title under the new system which was introduced at Wimbledon last year.

Pre-Wimbledon 2001 only the top 16 men in the draw received a seeding but it was extended to 32 players last June.

Only three unseeded men have previously won the title in Paris, Marcel Bernard in 1946; Mats Wilander in 1982 and Gustavo Kuerten in 1997.

Spain has had more than its fair share of champions and Costa is the fourth Spaniard to lift the Coup de Muskateers since the tournament was opened to international players in 1925.

He joins compatriots Andrea Gimeno (1972) Sergei Bruguera (1993, 1994) and Carlos Moya (1998) on the list of winners.—Reuters