The Associated Press

PARIS - Something about the French Open brings out the best in Albert Costa.

Here's a guy who has won just one of his past 88 tournaments, a stretch dating to August 1999. That title came last year at Roland Garros.

Over his career, the Spaniard has played in 29 Grand Slam events and been beyond the quarterfinals only twice - both in Paris, of course.

And in 10 years on the pro tour, he never had overcome a two-set deficit until this French Open, where he has done it three times in five matches en route to the semifinals.

"What I have discovered is that I have greater mental strength, possibly because I won it before. I'm very motivated, and I want to win it again," Costa said. "The truth is, I've also been lucky. But, clearly, mentally and physically, I've shown great stamina. I feel well on the court, and I always think I still have a chance to win."

In today's semifinals, the ninth-seeded Costa will face the man he beat in the 2002 championship match, No. 3 Juan Carlos Ferrero.

Heading into the previous round, it seemed the other semifinal would pit 1999 champion Andre Agassi against 1998 champion Carlos Moya. Instead, it will be a study in contrasts between No. 7 Guillermo Coria of Argentina and unseeded Martin Verkerk of the Netherlands. The 5-foot-9 Coria joked that the 6-3 Verkerk is "four times bigger."

While Coria raced side to side to swat smooth groundstrokes that confounded Agassi, Verkerk relies more on a power game that produced 27 aces against Moya - a very high total on clay.

Neither had been this far at a Grand Slam tournament; Verkerk had never won a match at a major.

Coria is on an 11-match winning streak on clay, having won the Masters Series title in Hamburg before the French Open.

Today's men's semifinals

Martin Verkerk, Netherlands, vs. No. 7 Guillermo Coria, Argentina

No. 9 Albert Costa, Spain, vs. No. 3 Juan Carlos Ferrero, Spain

TV: 10 a.m., NBC; 1 p.m., ESPN.