Paris, June 02: Guillermo Coria, the seventh seed, advanced to a quarter-final showdown with second seed Andre Agassi of the United States following a marathon two-day battle with fellow Argentine Mariano Zabaleta at the French Open here today. Coria, a former junior champion here, had been leading two sets to one when the fourth round tie was halted last night because of failing light.
The 25-year-old Zabaleta came back to equalise in a fourth set tie-break, forcing a fifth set decider. But despite slamming down twice as many winners as his opponent and seven aces, Zabaleta hit a massive 146 unforced errors.
Coria, 21, who captured his first tennis masters series title in Hamburg, dug deep to claim his third win over his countryman in as many meetings coming through 6-4 7-6 (7/4) 5-7 6-7 (4/7) 6-3 winner in 4hr 41min, making it the longest match so far in the tournament.
The last time Coria met Agassi, 33, was during the Australian Open and the Argentine retired in the second set. Agassi crushed Coria during their previous meeting in Cincinnatti last year. Bureau Report