Martin's miracle

Verkerk can't explain impressive run to French Open final

Verkerk round by round Rnd  No.  Opponent  Score  Semi  7  Guillermo Coria  7-6 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (0)  Qtr  4  Carlos Moya  6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 4-6, 8-6  4  11  Rainer Schuettler  6-3, 6-3, 7-5  3  29  Vince Spadea  5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 7-5  2     Luis Horna  4-6, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2  1     Zeljko Krajan  6-3, 6-4, 6-4

PARIS, June 6 (Reuters) -- 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 Guillermo Coria 7-6 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (0) 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."

Explaining his simplistic tactics, the unseeded Dutchman grinned: "He can run wherever he wants, but if you serve big it is difficult to get the ball back.

"I prefer just to hit the ball and let the other guy run."

For Ferrero his 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-4 triumph over fellow Spaniard Albert Costa was the sweetest of revenge for last year's defeat in the 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 46th in the world, the 24-year-old is playing his first French Open and finds himself only the third Dutch Grand Slam finalist.

"It's a dream, but it's also a little bit of a joke," he said.

"Your family, your friends, they make it like unbelievable. I don't like to say it, but it's unbelievable. For me it is a miracle."

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 meters at head height and grazed a ballgirl, named by organizers only as Perinne.

Coria, who could have been disqualified over the incident, recognized 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 apologized 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 favorite for Sunday's title match, but he guaranteed he will not be taking the Dutchman lightly.

"He is playing good, like Kuerten [in 1997] when he came in unseeded and won it," the Spaniard said.

"This tournament gives tennis players lots of motivation."

 

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