Verkerk smashes through to French Open final

By Ossian Shine

Paris - French Open revelation Martin Verkerk became only the third Dutchman to reach a grand slam final on Friday when he beat Guillermo Coria 7-6 6-4 7-6 at Roland Garros.

Without a single grand slam match win coming into the tournament, unseeded Verkerk's showing here has been little short of miraculous.

"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.

"I wasn't cool, I was really nervous and my whole life went through me... I have no words for this."

Not since Richard Krajicek won Wimbledon in 1996 had a Dutch player reached the final of a grand slam. The only other was Tom Okker who was runner-up at the US Open in 1968. The last unseeded male player to reach the final here was Andrei Medvedev in 1999.

Ranked 46th in the world, Verkerk will face either champion Albert Costa or third seed Juan Carlos Ferrero in Sunday's final.

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 metres at head height and grazed a ballgirl, named by organisers only as Perinne.

Coria, who could have been disqualified over the incident, recognised 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.

The player took off his shirt and handed it to the 16-year-old before holding his hands together at chest height, touching his heart and asking if she was okay.

He escaped disqualification but was given a warning.

While the furore was going on, Verkerk sat quietly at courtside, remaining focused on the task ahead.

Having edged that opening tiebreak with some brave hitting and powerful serving he moved further ahead by clinching the second 6-4 in similar style.

Coria bounced back in the third set, grimly hanging on with some expert baseline play while Verkerk continued to throw down heavy serves and club his groundstrokes.

The match entered a second tiebreak after the pair had proved inseparable and Verkerk took off.

Smashing winners - and a 19th ace - he won it 7-0 before falling to the ground in joy. - Reuters