Kuerten vs Corretja

PARIS, JUNE 9. Penpics of the finalists in the French Open men's singles to be played on Sunday.

1-Gustavo Kuerten (Bra) vs 13-Alex Corretja (Esp).

Gustavo Kuerten: The 24-year-old defending champion is bidding for his third French Open title, but the top-seed has been pushed hard at times in this tournament, surviving a close shave in the fourth round in which he saved a third-set match point against American qualifier Michael Russell.

He then was taken to four sets by Russia's Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the quarterfinals. But he was resplendent in the semifinals, outplaying the man deemed most likely to dethrone him, Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain in straight sets.

The Kafelnikov win augurs well for the man from Florianopolis who defeated the Russian at the same stage in 1997 and 2000 before going on to lift the trophy. Guga won at Acapulco, Buenos Aires and Monte Carlo early this season but has since been plagued by niggling injuries which helped bring about an early loss at the Hamburg Masters Series.

He has dropped four sets so far in the tournament. With his noisy, yellow-clad army of supporters behind him, Guga will start favourite.

He said of the final, ``I'm going to the final much more relaxed and satisfied with myself than before coming here. It's going to be a pleasurable and unbelievable day for me to be one of these two guys playing in the final on Sunday.''

Path to the final: 1st round: Guillermo Coria (Arg) 6-1, 7-5, 6- 4; 2nd round: Agustin Calleri (Arg) 6-4, 6-4, 6-4; 3rd round: Karim Alami (Mar) 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (7-5), 6-2; 4th round: Michael Russell (U.S.) 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, 6-1; Quarterfinals: 7-Yevgeny Kafelnikov (Rus-7) 6-1, 3- 6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4; Semifinals: Juan Carlos Ferrero (Esp) 6-4, 6-4, 6-3.

Alex Corretja: The 27-year-old Spaniard was a finalist in 1998 when he was beaten by compatriot Carlos Moya and has been improving with each game this time around. After being taken to five sets in his opener against Mariano Zabaleta of Argentina, Corretja has won 15 straight sets and looked in total command against home hope Sebastien Grosjean in the semifinals.

A die-hard clay courter he helped Spain achieve its first ever Davis Cup win last December in Barcelona and so far this year has reached the quarterfinals at Rotterdam, Barcelona and Rome.

Corretja has had a quiet year, but always finds his form here, once winning a 5Hr 31min match, the longest in Grand Slam tennis history.

He said of the final, ``it's nice to be back again in the final. It's been a great week for me and I am playing much better than I expected coming into the tournament. I hope it's going to be a different story against Guga,'' he added, in reference to a trio of defeats at the Brazilian's hands in Rome.

Path to the final: 1st round: Mariano Zabaleta (Arg) 2-6, 7-6 (7- 3), 6-3, 4-6, 6-1; 2nd round: Jens Knippschild (Ger) 6-3, 7-5, 6- 3; 3rd round: Magnus Larsson (Swe) 6-0, 6-3, 6-4; 4th round: Fabrice Santoro (Fra) 6-2, 6-3, 6-4; Quarterfinals: Roger Federer (Sui) 7-5, 6-4, 7-5; Semifinals: 10-Sebastien Grosjean (Fra) 7-6 (7-2), 6-4, 6-4.

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