Mary Joe Fernandez and Andrei Medvedev produced major upsets at the French Open today.
The fifth-seeded Fernandez overpowered No. 2 seed and former champion Arantxa Sanchez Vicario 6-2, 6-2 in their semifinal match, following up her spectacular comeback victory over third-seeded Gabriela Sabatini in the quarterfinals.Medvedev, an 18-year-old from Ukraine, outhit and outsmarted Stefan Edberg 6-0, 6-7 (7-3), 7-5, 6-4 to clinch the last spot in the men's semifinals.
Fernandez's victory was her second over the Spaniard in eight matches and her first in four tries on clay. It put her into the finals against top-seeded Steffi Graf.
Graf won her semifinal 6-1, 6-1 in 50 minutes over error-plagued Anke Huber, the No. 8 seed, and heads into Saturday's final holding a 10-0 career mark over Fernandez.
The 11th-seeded Medvedev, playing in only his third Grand Slam, fended off an Edberg comeback attempt with bullet-like service returns and deadly lobs to win. The Ukrainian earned a semifinal match Friday with No. 10 seedSergi Bruguera of Spain.
In the other men's semifinal, No. 2 seed Jim Courier, the two-time defending champion, plays 12th-seeded Richard Krajicek of the Netherlands.
Graf's victory in the all-German match with Huber enabled her to reclaim the world No. 1 ranking for the first time since September 1991, when Monica Seles surpassed her.
Graf is now 6-0 against Huber, losing only 20 games in 12 sets.
"I don't think she played up to her best," Graf said of Huber. "It was her first Grand Slam semifinal, and she was probably nervous."
Medvedev displayed all-round virtuosity, slamming eight service returns for winners, hitting 14 passing shots to only one for the third-seeded Edberg, and neutralizing the Swede's serve-and-volley game with eight offensive lobs that went for winners.
"It was a pre-game plan," Medvedev said. "He was getting too close to the net in his previous matches. He's very quick at the net. I knew that at key points I had to make a few lobs."
The match started Wednesday evening, and Medvedev won the first set in 16 minutes, yielding only seven points to Edberg. Rain forced suspension of the match with the second set tied 5-5.
"When someone like Stefan wins only seven points - it's really my best-ever set," said Medvedev.
Edberg double-faulted once in each of his first four service games, and at one point drew a cheer just for breaking a string of Medvedev points.
Krajicek made no secret of his strategy against Courier.
"I'll leave the baseline play to him," said the 21-year-old Dutchman. "I'll play my own game, which is serve-and-volley, play short points, attack his second serve, if possible, come in, just play a completely different game than he has been playing against all the other guys."
Krajicek, whose only previous Grand Slam semifinal was on a fast surface at last year's Australian Open, said he wasn't surprised by his strong showing here.
"I always had the feeling I could play on clay," he said. "Just because I go to the net more often than other people doesn't mean you're not a clay court player."
He is 1-3 against Courier.