PARIS - Albert Costa was as cool as his rackets in the courtside fridge after double-faulting to give Tommy Robredo a two-set lead in the French Open quarterfinals. But the defending champion had the kid right where he wanted him.
Just 11/2 weeks ago, Costa's 10-year record did not include a single comeback from such a deficit. Now he does it routinely.
With a key midmatch strategy shift, Costa overcame fellow Spaniard Robredo 2-6, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 Wednesday, making him the second to win three matches at a Grand Slam event after trailing 2-0 in sets. He is the first in at least 35 years to win four five-setters in a French Open.
"Every day I surprise myself," Costa said. "I promise it's not a strategy. When I am two sets down, I still think I can win the match. I don't know why."
His opponent Friday is a friend, countryman and the man he beat in the 2002 final: Juan Carlos Ferrero. The third-seeded Ferrero wasted five match points before eliminating No.19 Fernando Gonzalez 6-1, 3-6, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4. The other semi is Guillermo Coria vs. Martin Verkerk.
Helped by Gonzalez's 15 double faults, Ferrero joined Bjorn Borg, Mats Wilander, Ivan Lendl and Jim Courier as the only men to reach the French Open semifinals four consecutive years.
The women's semifinals are today, with Serena Williams facing Justine Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters playing Nadia Petrova.
Of the final four men, only Costa has a major championship - and last year's French Open was his lone title in the past 88 tournaments. He came to Paris 14-10 this season, having won more than two matches at only one event.
Costa "found his confidence here," Ferrero said. "But physically, I'm not sure he'll be that fresh because nobody can be after playing that many sets."
The tally: 23 sets and 227 games totaling 18 hours, 32 minutes. Costa rallied from two sets down against Sergio Roitman in the first round and Nicolas Lapentti in the third and also went five sets against Radek Stepanek.
The only other player with this many such comebacks at a major was Nicolas Escude at the 1998 Australian Open.
"It's worse when you've never won because you are very anxious. Sometimes you can do something strange on the court and lose your mind a little bit," Costa said. "Now when I'm on the court, I think, "Well, I still won once, so don't feel pressure, don't get nervous, don't get anxious."'
Robredo, 21, eliminated two Grand Slam champions en route to his first major quarterfinal: Lleyton Hewitt and Gustavo Kuerten. He appeared poised to make it three, lacing groundstroke winners for two sets.
Then Costa stopped swatting strokes from 6 feet behind the baseline and pushed forward. Picture a right-handed boxer shifting to southpaw during a bout.
After going to net 16 times in the first two sets, he made 35 trips the rest of the way, winning the point on 25. Robredo, meanwhile, made 62 unforced errors over the final three sets.
"Anything can happen, no?" Robredo said. "What he did today - it's very difficult."
HAAS WITHDRAWS: Former top 10 player Tommy Haas again delayed his comeback from a December shoulder operation, pulling out of a Wimbledon tuneup - the Gerry Weber Open that starts Monday in Halle, Germany.[Last modified June 5, 2003, 02:08:30]
