Argentine third seed Guillermo Coria confirmed his status as favourite for the French Open title on Tuesday, beating former champion Carlos Moya of Spain 7-5 7-6 6-3 to reach the semi-finals.
Moya served for the first two sets but Coria, beaten by Dutchman Martin Verkerk in the semi-finals last year, fought back to set up a clash with ninth seed Tim Henman of Britain.
"I am very happy to win in three sets a match that was very difficult," Coria said. "But my objective is to win on Sunday."
Coria, whose 31-match winning streak on clay was ended by Roger Federer in the final of the Hamburg Masters Series event earlier this month, broke Moya early in the opening set.
However, the Spaniard hit back with a break of his own in the seventh game. After levelling at 4-4, Moya then broke Coria for the second time with a forehand winner for the chance to serve for the first set.
Coria, who had won three of their previous five meetings, then stepped up a gear, breaking Moya twice in succession to seal the set after 50 minutes.
{{/usCountry}}Coria, who had won three of their previous five meetings, then stepped up a gear, breaking Moya twice in succession to seal the set after 50 minutes.
{{/usCountry}}Moya continued to attack in the second set, his powerful forehand helping him break serve in the fifth game. But when he served for the set at 5-4, the Argentine again broke him before going on to take the tiebreak.
That took the wind out of the Spaniard's sails and Coria broke in the first game of the third set before repeating the feat in the ninth game to clinch victory in two hours, 25 minutes.
Moya was frustrated at missing his chances.
"I had my chances and should have taken at least one of them. At the important moments, I didn't play well today and my serve let me down," he said.
The damp, heavy conditions, Moya added, had played into his opponent's hands.
"I wanted to have a sunny day, dry conditions and play on centre court if possible, but everything was the opposite," he said.