Costa slides past 'best man' into first Grand Slam final

Albert Costa, who advanced to his first Grand Slam final at the French Open yesterday, is unlikely to play at Wimbledon. The 26-year-old Spaniard is due to marry his partner, Cristina, next Friday, and is looking forward to a lengthy vacation at the end of the clay-court season.

Alex Corretja will be Costa's best man, notwithstanding the defeat by his close friend, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, in the semi-finals here yesterday. Costa described the victory as "the greatest moment I ever had in tennis, for sure". As moments go, it probably comes third behind the birth of his twin daughters and his impending wedding. "For the moment, I don't want to think too much about the wedding," Costa said. "I want to try to win the tournament."

In order for that to happen, Costa must overcome another compatriot, Juan Carlos Ferrero, who followed up his win against Andre Agassi by defeating Marat Safin, the second seed, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. It was Ferrero's third consecutive semi-final here, and he recovered from spraining an ankle in practice last week to out-rally each opponent. "The guy was just much better than me," Safin said.

Winners often fall flat on their back in celebration, but Costa skidded on the clay and roared with joy even before a Corretja backhand landed wide on the final point. Costa slipped while moving towards the shot, his keen anticipation having paid dividends many times during the match.

Last year, Gustavo Kuerten, of Brazil, drew a large heart on the court and lay in the middle of it after his third triumph here. Costa ended Kuerten's prospects of winning the title again by defeating him in straight sets in the fourth round.

Much was made of the fact that Kuerten was not at his best, having recently returned after hip surgery. After all, he had won his six previous matches against Costa. But Costa confirmed his own form by wearing down Guillermo Canas, of Argentina, in the quarter-finals, winning the the fifth set, 6-0.

Corretja, the runner-up to Kuerten last year and to Carlos Moya in 1998, was not helped this time by the debilitating effects of an allergy. He had his chances yesterday, but only converted four of 24 break points.

Costa recovered after losing his serve in the opening game of the match and took the first set after 40 minutes. Corretja was broken in the opening game of the second set, fought back to 2-2, was broken again for 4-2 and was unable to convert either of two break points as Costa served for the set at 5-4.

After taking a 3-1 lead in the third set, Costa seemed on course for a straight sets victory. Corretja came back, breaking back for 3-3, and going on to win the next three games.

Corretja was unable to recover from 0-2 in the fourth but did save two match points at 5-2 before finally succumbing.