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When love inspires

Andrei Medvedev is living his second spring in Paris. Six years after reaching the semi-finals of the Paris Open, the Ukrainian player is in the final four again.

In between, Medvedev rose to No. 4 in the world, enjoyed some finer things in life, but also had knee surgery, a fractured wrist, back injuries, shoulder problems. His interest in the game waned dangerously.

He came to this year's tournament ranked no. 100 in the world. But there had been a significant change: three months ago, Medvedev got reunited with his old girlfriend, German player Anke Huber. Love helps and Medvedev began his remarkable comeback by ousting American Pete Sampras in the second round and then dispatching 1997 champion Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil 7-5, 6-4, 6-4 yesterday.

Now, he is in the semi-finals again and will face another Brazilian, Fernando Meligeni, who upset Spain's sixth-seeded Alex Corretja 6-2, 6-2, 6-0. Corretja, last year's runner-up, said he was weakened by a mysterious allergic reaction.

The other semi-final today will feature American Andre Agassi, at No. 13 the only seeded man left, against 21-year-old Slovak Dominik Hrbaty.

Medvedev is still only 24 and when he reached his first semi-final at Roland Garros in 1993, he was considered a prodigal talent certain to win a Grand Slam and perhaps become No. 1. But injuries and a hectic personal life took their toll.

The Ukrainian makes no secret that his reunion with Huber is bolstering his frame of mind.

"I don't think there is anybody happier on earth than me right now,'' Medvedev said after beating Kuerten. "It is like a second birth in tennis, in life. When there is love, you're inspired, you can write poems, you can write music, you can play good tennis.''

It was very good. Medvedev used his deadly drop shot and his clever, thinking game to upset the eighth-seeded Brazilian, who had been the most successful player on clay this season.

The women's semi-finals today bring together four familiar faces and a classic rematch.

Top-ranked Martina Hingis of Switzerland, seeking the only Grand Slam title to have eluded her so far, battles defending champion, the tenacious Spaniard Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario.

The other semi-final pits Monica Seles of the United States and Steffi Graf of Germany.

Hingis the youngest and the relative newcomer. The other three have won 11 of the last 12 French Open titles between them.

The showdown between Seles and Graf recalls their classic 1992 battle, which Seles won 6-2, 3-6, 10-8 in what many still consider the greatest women's final ever seen at Roland Garros.

Seles's career was halted two years by the stabbing in 1993 she suffered at the hand of a deranged Graf fan during a tournament in Hamburg.

In six Grand Slam finals, they have won three each. Overall, Graf leads 9-5. In Grand Slam matches, the score is 5-3. But Seles has won three of five matches on clay.

"It is definitely a match to look forward to,'' Graf said. "We have had a lot of close matches especially at this tournament and we had that one memorable match.''

"A couple of matches against Steffi are probably the highlights of my career,'' Seles said.

The players last met in the quarter-finals of the 1999 Australian Open, when Graf uncharacteristically lost concentration, losing eight games on the way to a 7-5, 6-1 defeat.

Until that match, Seles hadn't beaten Graf since winning the 1993 Australian Open final.

AP