Moya and Coria in early clay-court masters clash
Whatever the outcome, the other French Open title contenders will watch the quarter-final between Carlos Moya and Guillermo Coria with relief as it means they avoid one of the top two players on clay this season.
Whatever the outcome, the other French Open title contenders will watch the quarter-final between Carlos Moya and Guillermo Coria with relief as it means they avoid one of the top two players on clay this season.
The draw forced the two most consistent players on the s surface to meet at a relatively early stage and it looks likely to be the most intense struggle of the tournament.
With 28 wins on clay this year, Moya has won more matches on the surface than any other player and the 1998 French Open champion believes he is playing better than six years ago.
But third seed Coria, the highest-ranked player left in the tournament, has been in even more impressive form on clay.
The Argentine, a semi-finalist last year, won in Monte Carlo and lost the Hamburg final to Roger Federer, his only defeat on the surface since a semi-final loss to Dutchman Martin Verkerk in Paris a year ago.
Coria leads Moya 2-1 in head to heads and has spent much less time on court than anyone else left in the tournament.
"We're two of the players that have won the most matches this year on clay," Moya said. "But you've got to accept the draw as it comes.
"I'm not sure it could have been the final. But I think I'm playing well and so is he."
The year he won his only grand slam on the Parisian centre-court, Moya also met the most feared player on clay at the time, Chile's Marcelo Rios.
"I think this year is pretty much the same. Coria might not be so much of a favourite as Rios was at the time, but I think he is one of the best players in the world," Moya said.
"If I win the next match, this can give me sufficient confidence to go all the way and win the tournament."
But Coria has no intention of making life easy for the former world number one.
"I'd love to play Moya because I think he also would like to play against me. I know him well, I know what his weak points are," the Argentine warned after his fourth-round victory over France's Nicolas Escude.