PARIS, June 5: A French Open final between two Argentine claycourters would normally stir up little emotion outside of Buenos Aires and Cordoba, but there is an edge to Sunday's final between Guillermo Coria and Gaston Gaudio. The two had a bitter clash last year at the Hamburg Masters which ended in fisticuffs in the locker-room after their semifinal match.

At one-set all and up a break in the decider, Coria pointedly thumped his chest and glared at Gaudio at a change-over with the message being - "You have no heart."

Coria went on to win that set 6-0 but an incensed Gaudio and one of his coaches after the game pinned Coria against a wall in the locker-rooms and they had to be separated.

According to Gaudio, it's all in the past.

"We talked about it and that's it," he said after his straight sets demolition of the third of the Argentine semifinalists, David Nalbandian, on Friday. "It's over. Everything is clear now."

Be that as it may, Gaudio and Coria have followed different paths to their showdown at Roland Garros.

Coria, at 22, three years younger than his compatriot, comes from the small provincial town of Venado Tuerto three hours from Buenos Aires and is a pure product of the official Argentine Tennis Federation coaching system.

Gaudio is a city boy from Buenos Aires who dabbled in football and rugby before ploughing his own furrow through the junior tennis ranks in Argentina.

He is on record as saying that Coria at times does not appreciate how hard it was for him to break into the top echelons of tennis having been financed and trained through the official channels.

Coming into Paris, Coria was the player that many tipped to be the first Argentine winner of the French Open since the man he was named after, Guillermo Vilas, in 1977.

After suprisingly losing in the semifinal here last year to Dutchman Martin Verkerk, Coria went on to a 31-match winning streak on clay until he lost to Roger Federer in the final of the Hamburg Masters on May 16.

Gaudio, in contrast, had seen his career stagnate over the last 12 months although he did reach the final in Barcelona at the start of May before losing in five sets to Spain's Tommy Robredo.

Given over to bouts of melancholy, he even employed the service of a sports psychologist to teach him how to relax and take enjoyment from the matches he played.

Coria stormed through to the semifinals without the loss of a set before Britain's Tim Henman took him to four.

Gaudio needed back-to-back, five setters just to get into the third round, but then produced two of the best performances of his career to hammer Australian Lleyton Hewitt and Nalbandian.

Gaudio, who has one the finest single-handed backhands in the game, said that he would need to play "unbelievable" tennis to get the better of Coria.

Coria said he hopes that the final will inspire more and more youngsters to start playing tennis.

"I hope they turn to sport and not drugs and I hope that one day tennis will be like football in Argentina. I also hope the best player wins on Sunday."-AFP