June 7, 2003	Saturday	Rabi-us-Sani 6, 1424

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PARIS, June 6: With a smile and a serve that could blow holes through walls, Martin Verkerk carved his own piece of French Open history on Friday, becoming the first Dutchman to reach the final at Roland Garros.

His all-action style and devastating delivery saw him past the scampering hot favourite Guillermo Coria 7-6 6-4 7-6 and into a title-match with third seed Juan Carlos Ferrero.

“I don’t know what happened. It is a dream for me, it is unbelievable,” the 24-year-old said, eyes watering and lips quivering with emotion.

“To reach the final of Roland Garros is the dream of any kid starting to play tennis. It is unbelievable.”

For Ferrero his 6-3 7-6 6-4 triumph over fellow Spaniard Albert Costa was the sweetest of revenge for last year’s defeat in the final.

Costa, the iron man of the tournament, finally ran out of steam. Winning a record four five-set matches here had sapped the burly Spaniard and he was powerless to prevent Ferrero reaching his second straight Roland Garros final.

Ferrero has never failed to reach the semis each of the four times he has played the event, and while his spot in the title match was largely expected, Verkerk’s could not have come as a bigger shock.

Ranked 46 in the world, the 24-year-old is playing his first French Open and finds himself only the third Dutch grand slam finalist.

Not since Richard Krajicek won Wimbledon in 1996 had a Dutch player reached the final of a grand slam. The only other one was Tom Okker who was runner-up at the U.S. Open in 1968.

The last unseeded male player to reach the final here was Andrei Medvedev in 1999.

Verkerk finished off Coria in two hours 40 minutes but the match could have been over after just a set when the Argentine narrowly avoided disqualification at the end of the first set.

The seventh seed had just lost the opening set tiebreak when he slung his racket in disgust to the back of the court.

It flew several metres at head height and grazed a ballgirl, named by organisers only as Perinne.

Coria, who could have been disqualified over the incident, recognised the enormity of the situation and immediately threw his hands in the air and looked to French chair umpire Cedric Mourier as the French crowd jeered and whistled.

He got off with a warning but was clearly chastened by the experience.

“I felt very bad for the next few points and perhaps that is why I lost the second set,” he said. “But it was really bad luck. I apologised for it three or four times. I really felt bad. I didn’t mean to do any harm when I threw it.”

Ferrero is a strong favourite for Sunday’s title match but he guaranteed he will not be taking the Dutchman lightly.

Results: Men’s singles semifinals

Martin Verkerk (Netherlands) bt Guillermo Coria (Argentina) 7-6 (7-4), 6-, 7-6 (7-0); Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spain) bt Albert Costa (Spain) 6-3,7-6 (7-5), 6-4.—Reuters/AFP