from the official ATP website
6 June 2003

Defending champion Albert Costa is defying the odds and baffling opponents in the process by delivering five-set performances on his way back to Roland Garros semifinals where he’ll face Juan Carlos Ferrero.

After four five-set matches and more than 18 hours of tennis through his first five rounds of play, Spain’s Albert Costa is bringing new meaning to the term, defending champion.
Costa pulled out another epic win on Wednesday, defeating countryman Tommy Robredo in another five-set marathon that pushed the Spaniard into the semifinals in Paris for the second straight year.

Costa dropped the first two sets to Robredo, but much like he did in earlier rounds against Sergio Roitman and Nicolas Lapentti, Costa regrouped, found his form and pushed the match to five sets before rattling Robredo’s service game and collecting the 2-6, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 victory.

Costa will face last year’s runner-up, Juan Carlos Ferrero, in the semifinals after the Spaniard defeated Fernando Gonzalez in five sets, 6-1, 3-6, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4.

The defending champion had lost five straight matches to his fellow Spaniards, but broke that streak by winning his 12th consecutive match at Roland Garros. The 27-year-old Costa has been on court more than three hours in all five of his matches. His quickest match – a straight sets victory against Arnaud Clement in the fourth round – still lasted 3 hours, 7 minutes.

For Robredo, the lost ended a spectacular run for the 21-year-old that included wins against World No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt and three-time champion Gustavo Kuerten.

Awaiting Costa in the semifinals is Juan Carlos Ferrero, who fell one match shy of his first Grand Slam title at last year’s Roland Garros.

Ferrero improved to 26-2 this year on clay with his five-set performance against Gonzalez. The win for Gonzalez also marked a bit revenge for the 23-year-old after Ferrero was defeated by the Chilean in the 1998 Roland Garros Boys’ Final.

Ferrero and Gonzalez had never met on clay on the ATP circuit prior to Wednesday’s meeting and it was apparant after two sets that it was anyone’s match to win. Ferrero cruised through the first set in less than half an hour, but stumbled in the second set and the two were even through two sets.

In the third set, Ferrero used those many 2003 clay court matches under his belt to keep Gonzalez guessing and once again rolled through the set, 6-1. But the 22-year-old from Chile wasn’t going down without a fight and was able to grab a break from Ferrero to send the match to a fifth set.

Ferrero continues his stellar play in Paris and now has a 21-3 lifetime mark at the event. He is playing Roland Garros for the fourth time and has never failed to reach the semifinals.

By reaching the semifinals, Ferrero became the fifth player to advance to the semis for four consecutive years, joining Bjorn Borg (1978-81), Mats Wilander (1982-85), Ivan Lendl (1984-87) and Jim Courier (1991-94).

NOTES –> Costa’s total match time en route to the title last year was 19 hours, 10 minutes. He has already been on court 18 hours, 39 minutes through five matches in this year’s event…Gustavo Kuerten was the last player to successfully defend his Roland Garros title…Before this tournament, Albert Costa had never won back-to-back five-set matches in a tournament.

WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID:

Albert Costa: “Well, it’s true I feel very proud because every day I’m surprising myself. Today, I was on court and he was playing much better than I was. He was showing that he was going to win this match. So I changed my tactics, and it worked. The truth is, this was an incredible match. I saw that I was really losing this match. I changed my tactics, and I managed to hold through the match. Physically, this is one of the toughest matches I’ve ever played in my life.”

About his five-set comebacks: “For me, it’s great. I can tell you that when I am two sets down, I still think that I can win the match, so I don’t know. And because I start to think that if I’m holding one set, maybe the other guy is going to be tired, me too, but also him. And then the match is again difficult for everybody. So that’s what I’m trying to think. Because Robredo today was playing so good, but then he was — I made good shots and he was starting to get a little tired. That’s what I was trying to do.”

About how he feels physically: “I think I am tired, the same as the others. So I’m tired but, you know, the good thing is you have one day to recover, I have today and one day to recover. And then I go to the court and try to do my job and not much, don’t think much.”

About setting the Grand Slam record with four five-set wins in one tournament: “I’m proud, of course, if I have just beaten a record, I’m proud I have it. It’s not a record I would have gone for, actually. I would have preferred to have played 15 sets instead of all the sets that I have played.”