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Henman becomes first British player to reach French Open semis in 41 years: Treble top Argentina as Nalbandian sees off Guga

PARIS: David Nalbandian and Gaston Gaudio joined compatriot Guillermo Coria in the semi-finals of the French Open on Wednesday to leave Britain’s Tim Henman standing alone against the three-pronged Argentinean assault on the Roland Garros title. Nalbandian, the eighth seed, shattered Gustavo Kuerten’s dream of becoming only the second man in history to win four French Open singles crowns with a commanding 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (8/6) win over the popular Brazilian. Unseeded Gaudio reached his first ever Grand Slam semi-final by outclassing Australian 12th seed Lleyton Hewitt, the former Wimbledon and US Open winner, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.

He will now face Nalbandian on Friday for a place in Sunday’s final, guaranteeing an Argentinian in the title match-up, while third seeded Coria, the overwhelming favourite, faces ninth-seed Henman. Wednesday’s 3hr 07min quarter-final proved to be just one too many exertion for the 27-year-old Kuerten, who is still trying to recapture the sort of form which took him to the 1997, 2001 and 2002 titles here before a hip operation threatened to send his career into freefall.

But he had his chances squandering four set points in the fourth set before going down to defeat after a tense tie-break where he had been just a point away from levelling the tie against the 2002 Wimbledon runner-up. The 25-year-old Gaudio had never previously got beyond the last 16 of any Grand Slam but on Wednesday he was in devastating form, never allowing Hewitt to settle on a cold, blustery Philippe Chatrier court. Hewitt, who had been bidding to become the first Australian winner here since Rod Laver in 1969, believes the unheralded Gaudio has a chance of the title. “Coria is probably the best player on clay but Gaudio is not far behind,” said Hewitt.

Coria, the third seed, reached the semi-finals on Tuesday with a 7-5, 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 win over Spain’s 1998 winner Carlos Moya and will now face Henman. Henman became the first British player to reach the last four here for 41 years and must beat red-hot favourite Coria if he is to become the first Briton to make the final since 1937.

Henman, the ninth seed, clinched an easy 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 win over Argentina’s Juan Ignacio Chela in his quarter-final. Mike Sangster, back in 1963 was the last British man to get to the last four, and should Henman overcome the formidable hurdle of hot favourite Coria, he will be the first Briton in the final since Bunny Austin in 1937.

Fred Perry remains the only British man to have won the French Open in 1935. Until this year, Henman’s best Grand Slam performances had all come on grass at Wimbledon where he has been a semi-finalist four times. Furthermore, outside of Wimbledon, he had never got beyond the round of 16 in any of the other three Grand Slam events and had never survived the third round in Paris before.

But the 29-year-old, who started this tournament coming back from two sets down in the first round against Cyril Saulnier and saved two match points in his fourth round win over Michael Llodra, served-and-volleyed his way into the history books in the Paris gloom on Tuesday. Coria’s win was his 47th in his last 49 matches on clay and gives him the chance to go one better than last year at Roland Garros where he lost his semi-final to Martin Verkerk of the Netherlands. afp

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