Tennis: Mart: Dutch and go, but I will win

MARTIN Verkerk may have gone where no Dutchman has gone before by reaching today's French Open showdown in Paris, but now he feels ready to break the final frontier when he meets Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero.

Only two other players from the Netherlands have reached Grand Slam singles finals - Tom Okker lost to Arthur Ashe in the 1968 US Open while Richard Krajicek won Wimbledon in 1996.

The 24-year-old Verkerk from Hilversum will start as underdog against an experienced claycourt specialist like Ferrero, but his journey to the final has been so surprising that it is impossible to tell when it will stop.

Ranked world No46, he had never played at Roland Garros before, but he claimed the scalps of two of the world's claycourt specialists in Spain's Carlos Moya and Argentina's Guillermo Coria in the two previous rounds.

Now the man who has fired down 112 aces this week is looking to pull off the biggest shock of all. He said: "I have one big thing with me, on a big occasion with the crowd and everything, I don't feel pressure or nerves. I beat Moya, I beat Coria, why shouldn't I beat Ferrero?"

He may not have any fear, but he has a lot of respect for his opponent who lost in last year's final and reached the semis the previous two.

He added: "You have to be honest, Ferrero is doing well, so it'll be tough."

Ferrero admitted: "Martin has a lot of confidence now, but clay is not his surface, he's just playing unbelievably well. The key will be my returns. I'll see when I go on court how I can return his serve."

LLEYTON Hewitt will be crowned the undisputed king of Queen's Club in London next weekend if he earns an historic fourth consecutive Stella Artois Championship.

Another success for the Aussie will take him level with John McEnroe and Boris Becker as the only four-time winners of the event which celebrates its 25th anniversary.

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